The Apple Tree
by Juunanagou4ever
Summary: (T/P)When Trunks felt the pains of love for the first time, he swore that he would never fall in love again, can Pan change him? Or will Marron's jealousy and the Son family's anger towards the royal family wreck everything... (A/U)
1. Prologue

~Prologue~ He stood silently beside the apple tree, a tear slowly rolled down his cheek. He didn't bother wiping it, he knew that emotions were not for hiding. But he had never felt so much pain in his life, he didn't know that love would hurt so much.  
  
Love. . . what it was. . . he never knew until he met her. . .  
  
Love. . . how cruel it was. . . he never knew until he lost her. . .  
  
He didn't know what to do. . . he had never felt so many emotions all at once. pain. . . jealousy. . . anger. . . The pain of losing her to him. . . The jealousy of him having her. . .  
  
The anger towards her, how could she. . . he loved her so much. . . he could have given his universe to her. . . he could have given his kingdom to her. . . he gave his heart to her. . . yet she tossed it around like a rag doll. . .  
  
No. . . she did not deserve him. . .  
  
He looked up at the dark, never-ending sky and whispered, "I will never make a fool of myself again. . . I will never be weak. . . I am the prince. . . I am strong. . ."  
  
Trunks wiped tears away from his face, he looked at the apple tree and yelled, "I WILL NEVER, EVER FALL IN LOVE AGAIN!!!" ~End of Prologue~ 


	2. Love at first fight?

"Pan!" Videl called, "Pan! Marron's here!"  
  
"Alright, alright, I'm coming."  
  
Pan slipped on her old but still intact shoes and ran out the door, " Hey, Marron!"  
  
"Hi Pan! I'm glad that you can come to the market with me." Marron smiled  
  
"No problem, I've been saving up for a new pair of shoes anyways." Pan held out 3 pieces of gold.  
  
"How long did that take you?" Marron gestured towards the gold.  
  
"Um. a couple of months." Pan looked down at the ground  
  
The Son family has been experiencing a bit of financial difficulties lately, they used to own quite a large piece of land on which they grew some crops, but just a couple of months ago, the palace had ordered them that the land be returned to the kingdom since they didn't have enough money to renew the contract. So now Gohan was at another town working hard labors in hopes of retrieving their land. "Those jerks." Marron said through gritted teeth  
  
Pan nodded, she knew who Marron meant, King Vegeta, Queen Bulma, princess Bra and prince Trunks, or in other words, the royal family. Pan had heard a lot about them when she goes to the market.  
  
Supposedly King Vegeta was a strict but fair King, and Queen Bulma was a gentle and beautiful Queen, but the Son family all hated them. The piece of land that they had token had belonged to them for decades, after Son Gokou's mysterious disappearance, Gohan naturally inherited it. Goten went to manage the family bakery.  
  
Pan looked at Marron, who was smoothing a wrinkle on her pale blue dress, she looked down at her own old, brown work dress. Life wasn't fair... Pan thought, why does Marron get everything? She lived in a fairly wealthy family, was pretty, and lived with both of her parents.  
  
"Hello?? Earth to Pan??" Marron waved her hand in front of Pan's face, "C'mon, it's almost 3 o'clock!!"  
  
"Huh?? Oh, okay." Pan woke up from la-la land.  
  
As the girls reached the village, they passed by Goten's shop  
  
"Oh, hang on, Marron, I wanna say hi to Goten." Pan ran into Goten's Bakery.  
  
"Hey, Panny!" Goten waved "Hi, Goten!" Pan chirped, "How's business?"  
  
"Oh, about average, you can't expect too much out of Tuesdays, though." Goten frowned.  
  
Pan shrugged and said, "Well, I just stopped to say hello, I better go now."  
  
"But you said way more than hello, in fact I don't even think you said hello to me." Goten grinned  
  
Pan gave him a 'know-it-all' look and said, "Hello... there, are you satisfied?"  
  
Goten nodded, "Yup, pretty much"  
  
Pan turned around and was about to leave when she tripped on her dress and fell on top of someone.  
  
"Hey!! Watch it!!" The man yelled  
  
"Opps. sorry." Pan said as she tried to help the man up.  
  
The man, who was wearing an old cloak, jerked his arm away, "Don't touch me!!"  
  
"What's your problem?" Pan snapped, "It's not like I didn't apologize."  
  
The man muttered, "Little girls should just stay home and play with their dolls"  
  
Unfortunately for him Pan heard that remark and yelled, "I am not little!"  
  
Pan stepped up to the man and glared at him, she had to admit, he had very beautiful cerulean eyes, but she wasn't about to admit that, instead she said, " I'm not going to start a fight in Goten's bakery, if you're a real man, you'd fight me outside!"  
  
The man raised an eyebrow, "I do not fight little girls, besides, I don't want to get arrested for killing a weak peasant"  
  
Pan felt her blood rush, she pushed the man and yelled again, "I am not little!  
  
The man, who was apparently not paying attention, stumbled backwards and fell, his hood fell off his head, revealing his violet hair.  
  
Marron rushed in, "Pan! What happened?!!"  
  
Pan snorted and said, "There's a real jerk in here who keeps on calling me little girl"  
  
Goten rushed over to help the man up, "Please don't pay attention to her, she can get a little too excited sometimes" As he did so he glared at Pan.  
  
Pan turned quite a brilliant shade of magenta and mumbled, "Whatever"  
  
Marron tugged on Pan's arm and whispered, "We'd better go now."  
  
As they were about to leave, the man yelled, "Hold on!! No one's going anywhere until I receive an apology!"  
  
Pan turned around and yelled, "In your dreams! Who do you think you are anyways!!"  
  
The man yelled, "I am the prin-" when he suddenly stopped.  
  
Pan laughed, "You're who??"  
  
The man grumbled, "Never mind."  
  
Pan stepped out of the door and yelled, "And I am not apologizing to a arrogant jerk!!"  
  
That did it, the man ran up to Pan and grabbed her arm, "YOU TAKE THAT BACK!!!"  
  
Pan stuck out her tongue, "Why? I'm just telling it like it is, if you have the right to call me a little girl, then I have the right to call you an arrogant jerk!"  
  
The man gritted his teeth, "I'm warning you, you better take that back right now, or else!"  
  
Pan, never one to back down, argued, "Or else what?"  
  
Marron tugged on Pan's arm again, "Pan. come on."  
  
Pan wouldn't budge, "Or else what?" she repeated.  
  
The man crossed his arms, "You'll regret it"  
  
Pan laughed, "Try me."  
  
The man raised a fist.  
  
"Ohh. I'm soooo scared" Pan yawned  
  
The man spun her around and held her in some kind of special hold, Pan tried to break free, but the man's grip was too strong.  
  
"Now are you scared?" The man whispered gently.  
  
Pan yelled, "NO!" and she kicked the man in the shins and punched him on the shoulder.  
  
The man smiled, "Now that was weak."  
  
Pan struck and this time it hit him on the side of his head, he loosened his grip and Pan struck again and broke free of his hold. She then released a series of punches and kicks but the man dodged everyone of them.  
  
"Well, not bad" Pan smirked, "But you're gonna have to be much better" She raised her ki and struck again, but the man held on to her wrist and twisted it.  
  
Pan screamed.  
  
Goten came running, "Hey! Let her go!!"  
  
The man dropped her on to the ground and smiled, "Sorry, little girl, but I can't play with you right now, I've got something important to do"  
  
Pan gritted her teeth and raised one hand , "Nobody makes a fool out of me, KA-ME-HA-"  
  
Goten yelled, "Pan!! This is a town!! You don't want to destroy it!!"  
  
The man smirked, "Yeah, Pan, if you destroy this little town, how are you going to tell your mommy?"  
  
Pan yelled as the man walked away, "This isn't over!!!"  
  
  
  
  
  
Well? How do you guys like it?? Sorry it was so short. Plez, plez, plez review!! I'll update more, I promise!!! -Juunanagou4ever 


	3. Do two wrongs really make a right?

"Pan! I'm very disappointed in you!!!" Videl crossed her arms  
  
"But, mother!!! It was soooo not my fault!!!" Pan complained  
  
"Oh really? Why is it that every time you go somewhere, you get into a fight??" Videl asked.  
  
"But-but-but-" Pan tried to reason, but she should have known, reasoning with Videl was like trying to reason with Chichi (*shudder*)  
  
"What do you mean but?" Videl was starting to get cross, "Your father and I are out there working as hard as we can for our family, and you act like you're a 12 year old kid??"  
  
"But that guy, he-he called me a little girl..." Pan looked at the ground  
  
"WELL!! I'D HAVE TO AGREE WITH HIM!!!" Videl yelled, 'IT'S TIME TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY!!!"  
  
"But-but." Pan started to cry  
  
"Young lady, you're now almost 17 years old, it's time for you to stop acting like a child!!" Videl tried to calm down.  
  
"I'M NOT A LITTLE CHILD!" Pan started to yell  
  
"THEN WHY MUST YOU CONSTANTLY ACT LIKE ONE??" Videl yelled back, "I CAN'T TRUST YOU TO GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT STARTING A FIGHT!!!"  
  
Tears rolled down Pan's face, "I-I-I-"  
  
"You don't even care about your family, do you?? You don't even care that your father is out there doing hard labours just to support us, I can't believe I even have a daughter like you!!" Videl turned around  
  
Pan said gritting her teeth, "Fine-Fine-FINE!!!!! Nobody understands me!! Nobody cares about me!! I'm just a silly little girl that everyone can boss around!!"  
  
Videl instantly regretted her words, "Oh, Panny I didn't mean-"  
  
"YES YOU DID!!!" Pan screamed as tears streaming down her face, "YOU MEANT EVERY WORD OF IT!! YOU THINK THAT THE BIGGEST MISTAKE IN YOUR LIFE WAS HAVING A USELESS, WORTHLESS, GOOD-FOR-NOTHING DAUGHTER LIKE ME!!!"  
  
Pan ran out the door crying  
  
Videl clasped a hand over her mouth, "What have I done." She ran out the door but Pan was nowhere in sight.  
  
"Trunks!!" Vegeta yelled, "Trunks!! Get you dead ass out here!!"  
  
Trunks came out of his room, munching on a shiny apple, "Yeah, dad?"  
  
"You little brat!! You got into a fight again, didn't you?" Vegeta yelled.  
  
"Um... No, not really I-" Trunks didn't finish because Vegeta had just punched him in the stomach, the apple fell out of his hand and rolled onto the ground.  
  
"Wha-what's your problem?" Trunks clutched his stomach.  
  
"MY PROBLEM IS YOU!!!" Vegeta yelled, "HOW DO YOU THINK THE PEASANTS WILL THINK?? A PRINCE BEATING UP A LITTLE GIRL!!"  
  
"Sorry dad. I just-" Trunks couldn't finish because, once again Vegeta had interrupted.  
  
"AND HOW DO YOU THINK THE WOMEN WILL THINK!! YOU'RE ALMOST 30!! AND YOU STILL ARE SINGLE!! AT THIS RATE, YOU'RE NEVER GOING TO GET MARRIED!!"  
  
"Well, what if I don't want to get married??" Trunks said  
  
"YOU-YOU-YOU" Vegeta punched him again, "WHAT PRINCE DOESN'T WANT TO GET MARRIED, HOW WILL YOU PRODUCE A HEIR FOR THE THRONE!!"  
  
Trunks gritted his teeth, "Look, I'm a reject, alright? I don't want to get married, I don't want to, I hate them, I hate them all!! I WILL NEVER LOVE ANYONE AGAIN!!"  
  
Vegeta laughed a cold, harsh laugh, "Well, Trunks, nobody told you to love anyone, marriage has nothing to do with love, it's just the basic requirements for being a prince."  
  
Trunks yelled, "WELL WHAT IF I DON'T WANT TO BE A PRINCE??!"  
  
Vegeta's face turned gray, he raised a trembling finger, "G-get out, I don't have a son like you."  
  
Trunks stood there, not moving. Vegeta punched him again in the chest, this time with all his might, "GET OUT!!!"  
  
Trunks ran down the hallway, his chest dripping with blood. Fine, he thought, fine, I will never come back, and then we'll see how you can have your heir for your throne. Pan leaned against the apple tree, oh great, she thought, why did I have to do that? Now what am I supposed to do, I can't go home. She stared up at the clear, blue sky and sighed, usually when she came here, her private hide-out, and she leaned against the apple tree, all her troubles were gone, but this time, she knew that she had hurt her mother with her words and she couldn't bear to return home. Pan sighed and stared down at the jade-green grass, the wind whipped her ebony hair across her face, but she did not care, a tear rolled down her cheek, maybe her mother was right, she did act too much like a child, Pan thought.  
  
Trunks rode on his favorite horse, Flame. He didn't know what to do, he could not go back to his palace, and his father would just greet him with his harsh words. Who does he think he was? Trunks thought, bossing me around like that, he didn't think of me as a son, just a heir for his throne. He rode to his meadow, where he had met his first girlfriend, Celeste, back then, they used to lie against the old apple tree together, hand in hand, talking, laughing, and loving. As Trunks arrived at the meadow, he saw that there was another person laying against his tree, a girl with long ebony hair. As he rode closer he recognized her, it was her! The girl that he had a fight with!!  
  
Hehehe, I kinda left you guys on a cliffhanger. Well, plez review, if you keep reading, then I'll keep writing!! -Juunanagou4ever 


	4. Pan's innocent little deal

~It was a gorgeous evening, the sun was setting and the sky was a beautiful shade of violet. Trunks had been out hunting with his father, he saw a perfect doe running though the woods. Trunks followed it until it stopped to get a drink of water from a little pond in a meadow.  
  
Trunks raised his gun, and was about to pull the trigger, when a soft but firm voice startled him.  
  
"STOP!! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!!"  
  
The doe ran away from the noise, Trunks looked up and saw a beautiful woman, with long, curly, red hair glaring at him.  
  
"Do you mind? I'm trying to hunt." Trunks said, annoyed that the doe had ran away.  
  
"Yes, I do mind. Who do you think you are? Shooting innocent animals like that?" The woman crossed her arms.  
  
"If I said who I was, you'd be scared half to death." Trunks said coldly.  
  
"Oh really? Try me." The women stepped closer to Trunks and stared him straight in the eyes.  
  
Trunks felt like he was absorbed by the two large jade green eyes staring at him, but never one to fluster, he quickly replied, "Move aside, can't you see I'm busy right now?"  
  
"If you're still trying to shoot that doe, then you'll have to get past me." The woman seemed to be in no hurry.  
  
Trunks looked confused, "Why do you care so much anyways, it's just a doe, you don't even know it, and besides, other animals are being hunted also, so why don't you go protect them instead of bothering me?"  
  
"You are not shooting that doe!! And that's final!! It's a living creature, it has just as much right to live as you, if not more!!" The woman yelled  
  
Trunks snorted, " Hah!! No one had more right to live than me, I am the Prince!!"  
  
The woman yelled louder, "THAT'S IT!! FIRST YOU TRY AND SHOOT INNOCENT ANIMALS, AND NEXT YOU PRETEND TO BE THE PRINCE!! THE PRINCE HAS A SOFT AND GENTLE SOUL, UNLIKE YOURS WHICH IS CRUEL AND ARROGANT!!"  
  
She was the first woman to ever yell at him that way~  
  
Trunks felt a sudden pain in his chest, and fell off his horse. Pan heard a noise and turned around, there was a beautiful reddish brown horse standing near the pond, with a man lying beside it!!  
  
Pan stood up and walked cautiously to see what the man was doing, when she got closer she realized that it was the jerk that got her into all this trouble!!  
  
She was about to leave when she saw a puddle of red slowly spreading from beneath the man, being the curious girl that she was, she stepped closer to see what it was.  
  
BLOOD!!  
  
Pan shook the man but he didn't move, Pan checked the wound and gasped, it was really bad!! Who could have caused so much damage, she wondered, when she tried to hit him, it didn't even make a dent!  
  
But Pan didn't wonder for long because some of the blood dripped on to her leg, and she quickly ripped a long piece of cloth off her dress and treated the wound.  
  
Even if he is a jerk, Pan thought, he doesn't deserve to die.  
  
~ "Fine then, I will not shoot that doe. There! Are you satisfied woman??!" Trunks dropped his gun.  
  
"My name is Celeste, it's rude of you to call me woman." Celeste said coldly.  
  
"Well, it's rude of you to interrupt my hunting!!" Trunks argued.  
  
"Hunting's wrong in the first place!" Celeste yelled.  
  
"Who are you to tell me that!" Trunks yelled back.  
  
"I believe that every creature deserves to live, as a human being, I have many faults and wrongdoings, but killing is unacceptable!! Even for a rude, arrogant jerk like you!" Celeste tried to reason with Trunks, but she found out like most people, that that was impossible.  
  
"Well, animals kill humans also, why don't you go stop them?" Trunks raised an eyebrow, this was quite amusing, actually.  
  
"Animals don't kill humans for their head as a trophy, or to make their skin into a jacket, or a purse, or whatever! They kill humans as an act of self defense!!" Celeste yelled  
  
Trunks stopped for a second, she had a point there. But never one to stammer, he quickly asked, "How do you know?"  
  
Celeste stepped closer to him, so close that they were almost nose-to-nose.  
  
"I know," She said, "Because I have a heart."~  
  
Trunks moaned and opened one eye, "Wha-what happened" he muttered to himself.  
  
Trunks felt the warm cloth wrapped tightly around his chest, and sat up. There was a girl standing next to his horse, petting it.  
  
"Hey!! Get away from it!!" Trunks yelled.  
  
The girl, or in other words Pan turned around and snorted, "Well, you're welcome."  
  
Trunks blushed when he realized that she had probably saved his life, after all, a punch from Vegeta, was like the moon falling on your chest.  
  
Pan walked slowly to where he was lying down, "How do you feel?"  
  
Trunks snapped, "Fine, I've never been better!"  
  
Pan laughed, "Glad to see you're the same arrogant pig-headed jerk!"  
  
Trunks snorted, "I don't need you telling me what I am, woman."  
  
Pan frowned, "My name is Pan, haven't your parents ever taught you manners? It's rude to call people 'Woman'"  
  
Trunks just grunted. Pan asked, "Well, hello? Usually when someone tell you their name, you tell yours back to them, don't you know that?"  
  
Trunks felt too tired to start an argument (if that's possible) so he said, "Trunks"  
  
"Excuse me?" Pan wasn't sure she heard correctly.  
  
"My name is Trunks!!" Trunks said louder.  
  
Pan had a puzzled look on her face for a moment before falling over laughing. "Hahahahaha, oh come on, if you're not going to tell me you're real name, you can at least pick a better name than that!"  
  
Trunks snarled, "That is my real name!!"  
  
Pan put her arms on her hips, "Oh come on, there's only one person in the kingdom named Trunks, and that's the prince."  
  
"So?" Trunks asked  
  
Pan was beginning to listen to that little annoying voice that everyone had in the backs of their heads, *HE'S THE PRINCE!!! HE'S THE PRINCE!!!* But like everyone, she chose to not listen to it, "Well, there's no way that you could be the prince because he's a arrogant pigheaded jerk!! Waitaminute!! You're an arrogant pigheaded jerk also!! So that means." The little voice was growing louder.  
  
Trunks smirked, "Well, the little girl finally caught on!"  
  
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!!" Pan yelled.  
  
Trunks smirked again. Pan yelled again, "It's your fault that I got into trouble!!"  
  
"Likewise. So? What's your point, little girl? Ever I can't reverse time." Trunks was actually happy that she got into trouble, well, at least someone else, even if it was Pan, was in the same sinking boat as him.  
  
Pan suddenly had an idea, "I know!! You can come with me to my house and explain to my mom how it was your entire fault that I got into a fight! Then she won't be mad at me anymore!"  
  
"And why would I want to do that?" Trunks asked.  
  
"Because that's what a decent person would do!" Pan pointed a finger at him.  
  
"Well, too bad for you, but I'm not decent." Trunks laughed  
  
Pan was starting to get mad, but she managed to retain her anger for a while, "Well, how about we make a deal?"  
  
"What kind of a deal?" Trunks suddenly became interested.  
  
Pan smiled innocently.  
  
Hehehehehe, I know, it's another cliffhanger, well, sort of. Anyways you will never know what kind of a deal Pan is making if you don't review!! Plez, plez, plez! Review!! -Juunanagou4ever 


	5. Dinner with a rubber chicken!

I'm so sorry, I know I haven't updated the Apple Tree for so long, it's just that I've been working on so many stories at once, *counts fingers* 5 whole stories!  
  
I'll never forget ~ prologue and 3 chappies so far  
  
My hatred to you ~ 1 chappie so far  
  
Who wants to live forever? ~ prologue and 2 chappies so far?  
  
The Chaos of love ~ (not posted on fanfic.net yet) half a prologue done.  
  
And this one, The Apple Tree ~ prologue and 3 chappies.  
  
Anyways, you probably don't want to listen to me blabber on, so here is Chapter 4!  
  
~*~  
  
"Why am I doing this again?" Trunks groaned.  
  
"I will bake you a cake every month for as long as you want." Pan grinned.  
  
"Make that every week." Trunks bargained.  
  
"Fine, just hurry up, already." Pan crossed her arms.  
  
"You? A peasant girl? Asking me to hurry up?" Trunks snorted.  
  
"Hello? Do you want your cakes or not?" Pan threw her arms in the air.  
  
"Fine, fine, don't get your knickers in a knot." Trunks grumbled.  
  
Pan snickered and Trunks asked, "What's so funny?"  
  
Pan started laughing, "You sound like my mother."  
  
Trunks groaned, "How did you know that I have an addiction to sweets anyways?"  
  
Pan smirked, "I saw you drooling at the pastries in my uncle's shop that other day."  
  
Trunks grunted, "They looked so good and I was going to buy some, until you came along!"  
  
Pan stuck out her tongue. The two were riding on Trunks' horse back to Pan's house, tempted by the offer of pastries, Trunks has agreed to go and explain to Videl how it all 'his' fault that Pan got into a fight.  
  
"Well, at least you're gonna be out of trouble, I'm still in way over my head." Trunks mumbled.  
  
"What do you mean?" Pan asked.  
  
"Well, my father wants me to get married, but I don't want to unless I love the person, but you see, I don't love anyone, therefore I can't get married." Trunks sighed, "But I'm going to turn 30 soon, and that's when a prince is supposed to get married."  
  
Pan looked shocked, "Wow, I didn't know that even the royals had dilemmas, I always pictured you guys as the ideal family, with no problems or worries."  
  
Trunks laughed, "Are you kidding? We're just like an ordinary family, except much more complex."  
  
Pan said sarcastically, "Well, that made a lot of sense, and what do you mean, you don't love anyone? I always thought that princes had their picks of women."  
  
Trunks sighed, there was only one woman that he ever wanted, and that was Celeste, somehow, after they've met in the plains of the apple tree, he and Celeste became friends, er, debate partners. He would go and meet her there every Wednesday afternoon and they would lay underneath the tree, soaking the warm rays of the sun, they could talk about anything comfortably, it was like they were destined for each other.  
  
Pan interrupted Trunks' thoughts, "Hello? Earth to boxer boy? We're here!"  
  
Trunks snapped, "Don't call me that!" and they jumped off his horse.  
  
Pan ran up to the large brick house and rang the doorbell, Videl answered the door and hugged Pan really hard, "Oh, Panny, I'm sorry, I didn't mean those things I said. I was so worried about you!"  
  
"Uh? Mom?" Pan gasped for air, "You're choking me!"  
  
"I'm sorry, I- Oh!" Videl noticed Trunks, standing awkwardly beside his horse, "You brought a little friend! Well, hello there! Come on in!"  
  
Trunks looked around him until he realized that he was the one that Videl had called 'little friend'. He didn't know whether he should go in to Pan's house but Pan dragged him towards Videl, she hissed into his ear, "Explain! Now!"  
  
Videl gave a cheery smile, "So how long have you two known each other? Panny? How come you've never mentioned this gentleman before?"  
  
Pan and Trunks both laughed at the same time, Pan laughed because Videl had called Trunks a gentleman, and Trunks laughed because he heard Videl call Pan, 'Panny'.  
  
"Pretty cute nickname, Panny." Trunks snorted.  
  
"Pretty small brain, boxer boy." Pan snorted back.  
  
Videl clamped her hands together, "My, such good friends already, come in and have dinner with us, I insist!"  
  
Trunks went back to his old annoying princy self, "My, Pan, is this your mother? I thought she was your sister."  
  
Videl giggled and lead Trunks into the dining room.  
  
Pan sighed and shook her head, "Damn that prince."  
  
As they sat down for dinner, the doorbell rang. Videl went to get the door and Pan was left at the table with Trunks, "Your mom is a fantastic cook, even first-class royal chefs couldn't cook such fantastic food."  
  
Pan smiled, "Thanks, but don't tell her that, she'll take it as an insult."  
  
Trunks raised a violet eyebrow, "Oh? How come?"  
  
Pan saw her mom coming back to the dining room and quickly said, "I'll explain later, but whatever you do, don't tell her that you're a prince."  
  
Trunks nodded, "I wasn't planning to scare the living daylights out of her, anyways."  
  
Pan glared at Trunks, who smiled at her innocently.  
  
Videl smiled, "Panny? Marron's here."  
  
"Oh!" Pan got up from her chair and ran to the door, "Hey, Marron, what's up?"  
  
Marron gave Pan a big hug, "Oh, Panny, I was so worried about you! Your mom told me what happened when I came over earlier and I looked all over for you!"  
  
Pan smiled, "Sorry, Marron, but I'm back now, anyways, have you had dinner yet? If not, would you like to have dinner with us?"  
  
Marron smiled, "That sounds great, Pan, but is it okay with your mother?"  
  
"Of course," Pan laughed, "She was the one that said, 'my house is your house'."  
  
Marron grinned, "She's nice."  
  
Pan shrugged, "I guess." Marron hit Pan on the shoulder and they walked, laughing, into the dining room.  
  
Videl and Trunks were engaged in a deep conversation about, to Pan's horror, herself.  
  
She coughed, "Ahem."  
  
Videl and Trunks both looked up. And Trunks gave a grin. Pan crossed her arms, "So, what bad things have you said about me?"  
  
Trunks gave an innocent look, "Why, Panny, I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about."  
  
Pan pointed her index finger at him, "Yeah, right, you've probably been saying how mean and bossy I am."  
  
Trunks smiled, "Now that you mention it, I was going to-"  
  
Videl interrupted him, "Pan! Don't scare away your boyfriend!"  
  
Pan turned deep red, "HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!"  
  
Trunks smirked, "She wished I was, though."  
  
Pan stomped up to him and hit him on the head with a rubber chicken that just happened to be laying on a shelf on the wall of the dining room.  
  
"Owww!" Trunks rubbed his head, "That was mean and uncalled for."  
  
Videl had a dreamy look in her eyes, "You two are exactly like Gohan and I when we were young."  
  
Pan looked horrified and Trunks whispered to her, "Who's Gohan?"  
  
"My dad." Pan whispered back. Now it was Trunks' turn to look horrified.  
  
Pan suddenly noticed that Marron was still standing behind her, so she cleared her throat. "Trunks, this is my best friend, Marron. And Marron, this is my 'friend' Trunks."  
  
Marron looked for some reason, to be in a daze, and Trunks stood up and stuck out his hand, "Hi, pleased to make your acquaintance, my name is Trunks."  
  
Marron was still in a daze when she shook his hand, "H-how do you do, I'm Marron."  
  
They all sat down when Videl suddenly said, "Trunks? Did you know your name is the same as the Prince's"  
  
Trunks said, "I am the-" Pan kicked his leg under the table, rather hard. "Owww!"  
  
Videl raised an eyebrow, "I am the owww?"  
  
Trunks corrected himself, "Sorry, I do know that my name is the same as the oh-so-noble-and-wise- prince's."  
  
Pan fell on the ground laughing. Videl raised her eyebrow again, "Pan? Have you always acted this weird, or is it because you are nervous in the presence of your boyfriend?"  
  
Pan stood up and stopped laughing, "HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!!"  
  
Trunks said, once again, "But you wish I were."  
  
Pan stomped over to him again and wacked him on the head with the rubber chicken.  
  
Trunks complained, "Owww!!! Why do you have a rubber chicken there, anyways?"  
  
Pan smirked, "That is none of your business."  
  
Videl said, "I think you should tell him, Pan, since he is going to be your husband someday."  
  
Pan gasped in horror, "I'd rather die! And mom? Why are you sounding so much like Grandma Chichi?"  
  
Trunks winked at her, "Oh, you little joker, you know that you can't resist me."  
  
Pan, who still had the rubber chicken in her hand, wacked Trunks again, and again and again.  
  
Trunks rubbed his head, "Owww! Panny, could you stop hitting my head!"  
  
Pan yelled, "Don't call me that!" And she hit him again.  
  
Trunks covered his head, "Please Panny, stop!"  
  
Pan glared at him, "You just never learn, do you?" Whack, whack, whack.  
  
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry, Panny!" Whack, whack, whack.  
  
"Okay, Okay, Pan! Are you happy now that you've caused me permanent brain damage?  
  
"Yes, I am." Pan was about to put the rubber chicken away when Trunks had to open his big mouth again and say.  
  
"But, you know, Pan, if you want me that bad, you could always-" Whack, whack, whack, whack, whack, "Alright, alright, I'll" Whack, "Owww! I'll shut up now!"  
  
Videl, once again, had a dreamy look in her eyes, "Yup, exactly like Gohan and I, I still remember the time when he-" She trailed off.  
  
So, through the midst of Videl talking to no one in particular dreamily about herself and Gohan and Pan wacking Trunks on the head with a rubber chicken. No one noticed Marron, who still had a dazed look, and she couldn't take her eyes off Trunks.  
  
~*~  
  
So, how was this chappie? I'm a really big T/P fan, and I don't mean to insult Marron in any way, sorry if I do. Please review, I'm sorry I took so long getting this chappie up, but I've accomplished a lot this weekend.  
  
I wrote chapter 4 for I'll never forget Friday night. And the Prologue and the first chapter for Who wants to live forever Sunday morning, and I finished this Sunday night, it's not going to be posted until Monday or Tuesday, though. Please review! Even if it's just a word or two! I need your support! -Juunanagou4ever (a.k.a. T/P freak) 


	6. A beautiful smile

Hey! Thanx for the awesome reviews! Sorry if I update too slow, I am currently working on 5 stories, and am experiencing severe writers' block on 4 of them. Luckily, this is the one story that I don't have trouble with, the next few chapters won't have too much conflict in them, but once I get past this boring part, I promise, lots of exciting cliffies! And for you Marron fans, I don't mean for her to seem ditzy, but anyways, please, enjoy!  
  
***  
  
Trunks thanked Videl for dinner and was about to leave when a sudden downpour started. Videl smiled and pulled Trunks back inside, "You wouldn't want to get wet now, would you? It's best you stay the night."  
  
Trunks smiled and said, "Thank you very much, but I wouldn't want to be a burden."  
  
Videl's smile widened, "My, what a courteous young man you are, it will be no trouble at all, you are my Panny's boyfriend, after all."  
  
Pan turned red, "M-mom! Would you cut that out?! He is not my boyfriend!"  
  
Videl smiled again, "Of course he is, dear, why else would you have brought him here?"  
  
Pan stomped over to Trunks and shouted in his face, "TELL HER!"  
  
Trunks, never one to fluster, quickly said, "I only wanted to apologize for my mistake of angering Pan, it was my fault that she got in a fight the other day."  
  
Videl clapped her hands together, "My! And honest also! It isn't often when a man admits mistakes of his own! Stay! I insist! It will be a honour having such a nice gentleman as the boyfriend of my Panny!"  
  
Pan screamed in frustration and stomped off into the living room. Videl then asked Trunks, "Did she blackmail you?"  
  
Trunks looked startled, "Um. . . no, she bribed me." His mouth watered at the thought of delicious pastries.  
  
Videl chuckled, "I never bribed Gohan, just blackmailed him every couple of days." She gave a dreamy sigh, "Those were some of the best times of my life, seeing the look on his face when I threatened him with his stuffed teddy bear."  
  
Trunks raised an eyebrow and he suddenly remembered about his horse, he dashed out the door and led his whinnying horse to the porch where there was shelter. Trunks stroked the horse's mane and fed it a carrot he had gotten earlier from Videl. The horse neighed in affection as it ate the carrot.  
  
Trunks then realized he was dripping wet, so he patted the horse on the back and strolled casually back to the house.  
  
"Oh, you poor thing." Videl gasped, "You're soaking wet!"  
  
Trunks gave a weak, wet grin, "That's alright, I've always liked water."  
  
Videl pointed up the stairs and said, "Go and have a shower, second room to the left."  
  
Trunks nodded, "Thank you." He dashed up the stairs bumping into Marron, "Oh, I'm sorry."  
  
Marron stared for a moment, into his deep cerulean eyes, she stuttered, "I- I-I-"  
  
Trunks looked worried, "Are you alright? I'm really sorry I crashed into you."  
  
Marron finally choked out, "I-I'm okay."  
  
Trunks smiled and gave her a quick wink before walking quickly off to the washroom, he didn't want the carpet to get soggy.  
  
Marron just stood there, still in a daze, she didn't notice Pan coming from her room, "Hey, Marron, it's raining pretty bad, you wanna stay the night?"  
  
Marron nodded slowly, still thinking about Trunks. Pan started dragging her downstairs, "C'mon, maybe there's something good on T.V."  
  
Marron muttered, "What's good is in your washroom, taking a shower."  
  
Luckily, Pan didn't hear her.  
  
***  
  
Trunks dried off his violet hair with a towel and walked out of the washroom, he saw, laid neatly on the bed was a pair of jeans and a white t- shirt.  
  
He put on the jeans and realized they were way too long. He was pretty short, only 5'6. His father was short, but luckily, he inherited a bit of his mother's height. A picture distracted his thoughts, Trunks walked closer to the picture that was hanging on the wall beside the nightstand.  
  
Pan was in the picture, but she looked different, for one thing, she was younger, Trunks could tell by her hair, which was much shorter than it is now. She had an arm around the neck of whom he recognized as the shopkeeper of the bakery. Videl was standing in the background beside a tall man whom Trunks assumed to be the Gohan that she was talking so much about. There was also another couple beside them, a man with wild bushy hair, and a woman holding a frying pan. Trunks immediately recognized it as a family photo, they all had the same ebony hair and eyes, with the exception of Videl, who had light blue eyes. Trunks then realized why Pan looked so different in the picture, she was smiling, not a sarcastic or a mocking smile, but a true, genuine smile. Looking at the picture made Trunks smile too, he had never seen Pan smile like that before, and it was a pleasant sight. But he couldn't help feeling envious of Pan, she had such a loving family, as for him? His father was like stone, his sister like an annoying little princess that she is. But Trunks had to admit, he had a nice mother.  
  
Suddenly the door opened, making Trunks jump back in surprise. It was Marron, her sky blue eyes widened when she saw Trunks' bare, muscular chest.  
  
Trunks on the other hand, looked uncomfortable, the two of them just stood there, Marron gaping at all the muscles and Trunks looking awkward.  
  
Pan ran up the stairs, pouting, "What is taking her so long? All I asked was for her to get the television guide."  
  
Pan saw Marron standing in the doorway, she tapped her on the shoulder, "Marron? Hello? Are you alive?"  
  
Pan looked into the room and saw what Marron was gaping at, she crossed her arms and laughed, "Oh, Marron, never seen a man without a shirt on before?"  
  
Trunks corrected, "Well, Panny, obviously she's never seen such a good looking man in her life." He flexed a bicep muscle.  
  
Marron couldn't argue with that, but Pan laughed, "Hah! In your dreams you sadistic weirdo!" She walked into the room, grabbed the television guide and tossed the t-shirt to Trunks.  
  
Marron was still gaping, Pan looked disgusted, "C'mon Marron, wouldn't want to miss our program, and as for you, Trunks, put your shirt on faster next time."  
  
Trunks smirked and Pan shook her head, she slowly dragged a dazed Marron downstairs.  
  
A couple minutes later, Trunks emerged into the living room, fully dressed. Marron took one look at him and quickly blushed. Pan was watching intently at the T.V. screen.  
  
Videl came into the room carrying a platter of cookies. She put it on the coffee table and Pan and Trunks both eyed hungrily at the delicious double chocolate chip cookies. Pan sneered at Trunks, "Challenge you to a cookie eating contest?"  
  
Trunks raised an eyebrow, back in the palace, he didn't have such impractical and useless competitions, but never one to turn down a challenge, he sneered back, "Sure."  
  
Videl watched in amusement as Pan and Trunks were stuffing their faces. She walked out of the room shaking her head, "Just like Gohan and I."  
  
Between cookies, Trunks glanced at Pan, who was laughing as she shoved cookies into her mouth, her laugh, he thought, it was such a pleasant sound.  
  
While Trunks was busy wondering how Pan could act so differently at times, Pan had finished the last of the cookies and jumped up, nearly knocking the coffee table over, "I win! In your face, boxer boy!"  
  
Trunks protested, "Hey! Don't call me that!"  
  
Pan stuck out her tongue, "Well, stop calling me Panny then."  
  
Trunks grunted, "I can call you whatever I want."  
  
Pan laughed, "Well, then I'll call you whatever I want."  
  
Trunks folded his arms. And they all watched T.V. After 15 minutes, Pan yawned, "This is boring, it's obviously the butler who did it."  
  
Trunks shook his head, "I disagree, it's definitely the chuffer."  
  
Marron piped up, "I think it's the gardener."  
  
Pan smiled her evil smile, "Well, let's make a bet then, whoever wins-"  
  
Marron finished for her, "Gets to pick what we do next?"  
  
Trunks nodded, "Agreed."  
  
The next 45 minutes were of silence, finally a scream was heard, "It's you! The EEEE!"  
  
Trunks shouted, "Chuffer!"  
  
Pan yelled, "Butler!"  
  
Marron screamed, "Gardener!"  
  
"Y-you're the EEEEE! GARDENER!"  
  
Pan and Trunks both groaned as Marron jumped up, "Yay! I win!"  
  
Pan groaned again, she knew what Marron wanted to do. Marron smiled, "Let's play truth or dare!"  
  
Pan groaned once more and Trunks asked, "How do you play?"  
  
Marron's mouth dropped, "You've never played truth or dare?"  
  
Trunks shook his head and Marron screamed. Pan covered her ears. After Marron has stopped screaming, she explained the rules to Trunks. They sat down in a circle, and Marron dared Trunks first, "Alright, Truth or dare?"  
  
"Dare, I guess."  
  
Marron looked thoughtful for a minute but then the corners of her lips curled, and she said in a sing-songy kind of way, "I dare you to tell Videl that you are gay."  
  
Trunks hesitated and Marron teased, "Scared?"  
  
Trunks stood up, "Of course not, I am not scared of anything." He walked off into the kitchen.  
  
Pan and Marron both followed him, he approached Videl and cleared his throat. Videl laughed, "Are you asking for my daughter's hand in marriage?"  
  
Pan's jaw dropped and Marron snickered. Trunks shook his head, "No, I am not, you see, I am well, gay."  
  
Videl raised an eyebrow and Marron fell over laughing, Videl smiled, "Are you going to dare Pan next? Marron obviously dared you."  
  
Trunks laughed, he wished he had such an understanding mom. Well, actually he did, he wished he had such an understanding dad.  
  
Marron and Pan sat back down into a circle and Trunks joined them, "Pan, truth or dare?"  
  
"Dare." Pan said without hesitation.  
  
Trunks paused for a moment before saying, "Smile."  
  
Pan asked, puzzled, "What?"  
  
Trunks repeated himself, "Smile."  
  
Pan blinked, "What?"  
  
Trunks sighed, "Smile, as in smiling?"  
  
Pan still wasn't sure she heard correctly, and Trunks sighed again, "My favourite animal is the chipmunk."  
  
That did it, Pan fell on the floor, laughing, "You? Favourite animal? Chipmunk?"  
  
Trunks scowled, "That wasn't that funny, you didn't need to laugh, a simple smile would do."  
  
Pan was still laughing, "Why do you want me to smile?"  
  
"Because you have a beautiful smile." Trunks said, truthfully.  
  
***  
  
Hey, peeps, sorry, I couldn't think of a good cliffie, I'm really sorry this chappie was so short, but I am *yawn* pretty tired of this chapter, the next chappie will be good though, but I'll only post it if you review, lots! Thanks, all!  
  
-Juunanagou4ever 


	7. Chocolate Trunks

Dammit. . . I hate depressing stories. . . anyways. . . here's the next chapter for The Apple Tree! Please review!! I need reviews!!! ARGH!!!! Anyways, anyone heard of Cha-la Head-Cha-la? Ohh!!! I love that song almost as much as I love Hitorijanai! Still no major conflict in this chappie, the next few chappies will be based on Pan and Trunks getting to know each other better, then the REAL conflicts will begin! MUHAHAHAHA!!  
  
***  
  
Chapter 6 ~ Chocolate Trunks  
  
***  
  
Pan was lying in her bed, thinking about that night. Did Trunks really mean it? No boy has ever said she was pretty. . . well, Trunks hadn't either, but having a beautiful smile is sort of being pretty. Growing up a tomboy, Pan would catch bugs and jump in mud puddles and do things that little girls would never do, now that she's grown up, she is less a tomboy, but still arrogant and loud.  
  
They had stopped playing Truth or dare after a while, and eventually went to bed. Pan sighed, she wondered if Marron really had a crush on Trunks. . . It sure seems like it. . . she wondered what would be for breakfast tomorrow. . . A rustling sound disturbed her thoughts, she looked out her window and saw a figure creeping behind the house.  
  
Pan jumped out of her bed, and ran downstairs, it was a burglar! A smile crept onto her face, she loved burglars! And she loved beating them up! Pan dashed out the front door and saw a bucket by the wall. . .  
  
Marron couldn't sleep, thoughts of Trunks took over her head, she had never felt this way before. . . well, maybe once or twice, but she didn't why, she just thought of Trunks as really special, he was funny, yet polite. Marron licked her lips, not to mention having a great build. She heard a scream and looked out her window.  
  
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Trunks yelled, dripping wet.  
  
"Opps. . ." Pan clutched the bucket, now empty, behind her, "I thought you were a burglar."  
  
"DO I LOOK LIKE A BURGLAR?!" Trunks was about to feed his horse when Pan had snuck up behind him and dumped the bucket of liquid on him.  
  
"Well. . . it's really dark out here, and I couldn't tell it was you." Pan explained, it was a moonless night, and it would be pretty romantic, if Pan hadn't dumped the bucket of liquid on Trunks, and if he wasn't mad as hell.  
  
"And what was in that bucket? It sure wasn't water." Trunks dabbed a fingerful of the thick brown liquid that covered him.  
  
Pan took a fingerful from the bucket, sniffed it, and licked it once, she came to the conclusion, "It's chocolate!"  
  
Trunks raised a now covered with chocolate sauce eyebrow, "Why would there be a bucket of chocolate outside?"  
  
Pan thought for a moment, "Oh no! Today's the day for the midnight chocolate service pickup!"  
  
Trunks folded his two chocolate arms, "Midnight Chocolate Service? You peasants sure have strange organizations."  
  
Pan panicked, "Yikes! Omigosh! What am I going to do? They will arrive at any moment now!"  
  
Trunks asked, "Wait a minute, first explain to me what the Midnight Chocolate Service is."  
  
"Tomorrow is the fall harvest, and they need to make a giant cake for the festival, but the chocolate sauce all have to be made at the same time, and it has to be really fresh, or else the cake won't taste as good, so the committee picks up a bucket of chocolate sauce from each household at midnight." Pan explained impatiently.  
  
"Ah. . . I see." Trunks was beginning to drool at the thought of a huge chocolate cake.  
  
Pan pulled her hair, "Oh no! What am I going to do! Mom will be so mad! ARGH!" She then noticed the chocolate Trunks still standing in front of her, and an evil grin spread on to her face.  
  
Trunks looked worried, "Uh oh, I don't like that look on your face."  
  
Pan's grin widened, "Oh come on, all we have to do is scoop the chocolate off you and put it back in to the bucket, no one will ever know."  
  
"But Pan, that's dishonest." Trunks complained, "And besides, this is now ROYAL chocolate sauce, it is not fit for pea-"  
  
He didn't get to finish because Pan was already scraping the chocolate off of him with a stick.  
  
"Hey! Oww!! That was my nose!" Trunks yelled, "Pan! Cut it out! I'm ticklish!"  
  
Pan paid no attention to him, instead she scraped the chocolate faster.  
  
"Pan! Oww!! You poked my eye!"  
  
Marron thought scraping chocolate off Trunks would be fun, so she hopped outside also, with two knives, "Hey, Pan, need a hand?"  
  
Pan smiled, "Sure, come on!" Trunks backed away slowly from the two, "Hey! Let's not do anything drastic here. . ."  
  
Pan grabbed onto his arm, "Stay still! We wouldn't want to cut off an ear!"  
  
Trunks shuddered and stayed still as the two girls scraped the chocolate off of him.  
  
When they finished, to their dismay, the bucket was only half full, Pan moaned, "There should be a whole bucket!"  
  
Marron pointed out, "Some chocolate could have dripped in his shirt."  
  
Pan smiled, "Marron! You're a genious!" She turned to Trunks, "Trunks! Take off your t-shirt!"  
  
Trunks wrapped his arms around himself, "Hey! No way! I'm not the prostitute type!"  
  
Pan held up her knife, "You either take it off, or I'll cut it off!"  
  
Trunks shuddered and obediently took off his shirt, indeed, there was chocolate on his back and around his neck, Pan heard the screeching of a wagon and yelled, "Hurry! They're here!"  
  
Marron and Pan quickly scraped the rest of the chocolate off him and dumped it in the bucket, as a man walked across the Sons' front lawn, Pan saw that there was still a string of chocolate around Trunks' neck, she yanked it off and threw it in the bucket.  
  
The chubby man, walked over, picked up the bucket and raised an eyebrow at the two girls holding knifes and the man with his shirt off. He walked away muttering, "The freaks you see on moonless nights. . ."  
  
The trio walked back into the house, laughing and they all said good night and went to bed, even Trunks, who was so sleepy he didn't bother taking a shower.  
  
"Trunks?"  
  
Trunks lazily opened one eye, "Yeah?"  
  
"Must you constantly fall asleep when I'm talking?" Celeste folded her arms across her chest.  
  
"Well, you really are quite boring." Trunks teased.  
  
"I am not!" Celeste laughed and wacked him upside his head. She sat down and leaned against the apple tree, it was Wednesday afternoon again, and Trunks asked, "Hey, Cel? Are you afraid of anything?"  
  
Celeste laughed, "Sure, everyone has their own fears, mine is dying."  
  
Trunks raised an eyebrow and Celeste explained, "I'm not afraid of the process of dying, just when I die, I'm afraid of never waking up again."  
  
Trunks laughed, "But then you wouldn't have any problems, you'd just sleep all the time."  
  
Celeste laughed again, "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Trunks nodded and Celeste continued, "This world is so beautiful, and there are so many pleasant surprises that I have never experienced, I'd like to die when I'm an old lady, but not now, I still have a plentiful share of surprises that are just around the corner."  
  
Trunks smiled, "I bet you'd still be pretty when you're an old lady."  
  
Celeste laughed, once again, how that laugh was like music to Trunks' ears, he pulled her closer to him and gazed deeply into her eyes. Celeste smiled and stood up, "Bye Trunks."  
  
"Wait! Where are you going!" Trunks asked.  
  
Celeste just shook her head and walked away, Trunks chased after her but everything surrounding him became dark and he heard his father's voice, "You must get married! You must get married! You must get married!  
  
Trunks yelled, "No! Never! Not unless I love the person!"  
  
Vegeta's voice came again, "Love is for weaklings! You are a prince! You are anything but weak!"  
  
Trunks clutched his head, "No! Shut up! Leave me alone!"  
  
He woke up, cold sweat dripping across his face, he clutched his left hand around the gold chain that dangled around his neck, but it wasn't there! He jumped out of bed, since it was still pretty dark, he turned on the light, and looked around the guest room, it was nowhere to be found. Trunks tried to calm himself down, "Maybe I took it off when I was taking a shower or something. . . yeah, that must be it!"  
  
Trunks dashed into Pan's room and looked all around the washroom, but there was nothing, no sign of a chain. He heard Pan's voice, "And what do you think you're doing, snooping in my room at 3 in the morning?"  
  
"I'm looking for something I lost." Trunks explained.  
  
"Your brain?" Pan asked, "I think I saw it in the garbage can beside your intelligence and respect for others' privacy."  
  
Trunks rolled his eyes, "This is serious, have you seen my gold chain? It was on my neck the last time I checked."  
  
Pan thought for a moment, uh-oh, she remembered that she yanked a string of chocolate off his neck, it must've been the gold chain, no biggie, it was replaceable, right? "Why do you need that chain anyways?"  
  
"I've had it ever since I was a kid, it was a gift from my now deceased Grandmother, it also has my named engraved on one side with sterling silver, the chain itself is 24 karat gold, it's irreplaceable, why, have you seen it?" Trunks asked anxiously.  
  
Okay. . . Pan thought, so she couldn't replace it, "Er. . . it could be on the lawn? Maybe when you took off your shirt, it somehow got thrown off your neck?" She certainly hoped that that was the case, an angry, cranky prince was not her idea of starting a day.  
  
"Good idea," Trunks ran outside and Pan followed him. After 10 minutes of searching on the lawn, they both realized that it was not there. Pan took a deep breath, she might as well tell him the truth, "Trunks I-"  
  
Trunks interrupted her, "Do you think that it could've somehow got thrown with the chocolate in the bucket?"  
  
Pan was relieved, Trunks' constant habit of interrupting people actually was put into good use, "Yes, that's probably it."  
  
Trunks yelled, "Well? Where is this place that all the chocolate is taken to?"  
  
Pan thought for a moment, "Probably my uncle's shop."  
  
"Well? What are you waiting for? Let's go!" Trunks jumped on his horse.  
  
Pan nodded, "Right." She whistled and a black horse came jotting around the house, she jumped on it, and the two were off.  
  
"Wow, I didn't know you had a horse?" Trunks asked, impressed.  
  
"There are many things that you don't know about me." Pan smiled, "Like my favourite animals are wolves."  
  
"Very interesting." Trunks nodded, he wondered if she was going to tease him now about his favourite animal now.  
  
"Wolves eat chipmunks, you know." Pan smirked.  
  
Trunks sighed, "Must you insult everything that involves me?"  
  
"Yup, pretty much." Pan laughed.  
  
"Well, chipmunks are very intelligent." Trunks said.  
  
"Yup." Pan laughed again, "They know when they are being eaten."  
  
Trunks sighed, she was impossible, "What's the horse's name?"  
  
"Algae."  
  
Trunks laughed, "Nice name."  
  
"Thanks, I think it's quite original, actually." Pan smiled and then she added, "I bet Algae could beat up an army of chipmunks."  
  
Trunks sighed again, she really doesn't let things go, doe she?  
  
"We're here." Pan said suddenly.  
  
Trunks leapt off his horse and tried to go in the bakery, "It's locked."  
  
"No duh, Sherlock." Pan rolled her eyes, "Why would my uncle keep his shop open at three in the morning?"  
  
Trunks whined, "Well, how do we get in?"  
  
Pan smiled, "We don't." Trunks looked confused and Pan walked around to the back of the bakery, sure enough, there was a bunch of people, baking and working. Pan waved, "Hello Goten!"  
  
Goten waved back, "Hey, Panny, what's up?"  
  
Pan shrugged, "Not much, I'm looking for a gold chain, have you seen one?"  
  
Goten shook his head, "Why do you think it's here?"  
  
"It fell in the bucket of chocolate sauce." Pan blushed.  
  
Goten scowled, "Well, Panny, the cake is already half baked, I doubt you'll be able to find it."  
  
Trunks, who has just caught up to Pan, "Hey, Pan, he's your uncle?"  
  
Pan smiled, "None other."  
  
Trunks asked, "Have you found my chain?"  
  
Pan gulped, "Er. . . Trunks does gold melt?"  
  
Trunks shook his head, "Not solid gold, why?"  
  
Goten walked over to them, "Hey, aren't you the one who beat up Pan the other day?"  
  
Pan turned red, "He did not beat me up!!"  
  
Trunks smiled and was about to mention something about chipmunks being better than wolves, but he decided now might not be the best time.  
  
Goten asked curiously, "Wow, how long have you two known each other?"  
  
Pan answered, "About a day and a half, why?"  
  
Trunks tugged on her arm, "Pan! I want to find my chain!"  
  
Pan sighed, "Okay, okay, Goten, are you sure you haven't seen the chain?"  
  
Goten shrugged, "If it was in the bucket, then it's probably in the cake by now."  
  
Trunks made a whining noise. And Pan asked, "Is there anyway to get it out?"  
  
Goten looked thoughtful, "Well, if you are lucky, maybe it will turn up in the cake this afternoon, if you buy a piece and it happens to be in it, then-"  
  
Trunks asked anxiously, "How big is the cake?"  
  
Goten smiled, "Very big, half the size of Pan's house."  
  
Trunks' jaw dropped, "Even I can't eat that much cake. . ."  
  
Goten laughed, "Don't worry, you won't be able too, a piece of cake is half a piece of gold, so the whole cake would cost a fortune!"  
  
Trunks smirked, "Money is no problem, trust me."  
  
Goten shrugged, "Well, come to the harvest this afternoon in the town square, and bring lots of money then. . ."  
  
Pan started dragging Trunks away, "Thanks Goten, we'll meet you in the town square, c'mon, chipmunk boy."  
  
"Don't call me that, PANNY!"  
  
"I'll call you whatever I want, chocolate boxer boy!!"  
  
Goten shook his head, "The way they're arguing with each other, you'd think they were a couple."  
  
***  
  
Hehehe, no cliffie this time, will Trunks find his Chain? Or not? And will chipmunks finally rule the earth? Find out only if you review!  
  
-Juunanagou4ever 


	8. Running out of time

Wow! I based 8 whole chapters on just a couple of days, yikes! I wonder how long this story is going to be, anyways, here's the next chappie for The Apple Tree! Enjoy!  
  
~*~  
  
Trunks yawned, even if he was a prince, he still didn't like being up at three in the morning.  
  
Pan laughed, "What's wrong? Tired, boxer boy?"  
  
Trunks snarled, "OF COURSE NOT!"  
  
Pan looked startled, "Wow, touchy, are you PMS-ing? No. . . wait. . . you're a guy. . . I guess you are just sleepy then."  
  
Trunks wanted to shake his head, but he yawned and Pan laughed again. Trunks sighed, there was no point in hiding it anymore, he jumped off his horse and sat down, leaning against a boulder. "I'm not moving an inch until I get some sleep."  
  
Pan smiled, "Suit yourself." And she dashed away on Algae.  
  
Trunks cried out, "Panny! Wait! Don't leave me here all alone!" He stopped because he realized how stupid he had suddenly sounded.  
  
Pan turned around, "What's the matter? Is the princy-boy afraid of the dark?"  
  
Trunks snapped, "Of course not! And just how many nicknames do you have for me anyways?"  
  
Pan counted her fingers, "Let's see here . . . about 5?"  
  
Trunks groaned, "At least I only call you Panny."  
  
Pan shrugged and jumped off her horse, she tied both Algae and Flame's leashes to a tree and sat down beside Trunks.  
  
Trunks moaned, "What lame insult are you going to make now?"  
  
Pan looked up at the sky, "Hey, Trunks, are you afraid of anything?"  
  
Trunks laughed, "That was bad! Even for you!"  
  
Pan glared at him, "That wasn't an insult."  
  
Trunks smiled, "Opps. . . I guess I really am tired, then. And no, of course, I'm not afraid of anything. I'm a prince, after all."  
  
Pan nodded, "Figured you'd say so, but I think you are afraid of something, everyone is."  
  
"Why? What are you afraid of?" Trunks teased.  
  
"That, is none of your business." Pan smirked.  
  
After a while, they just sat, leaning against the rock, neither of them saying a word, Trunks heard a 'clunk' sound beside him, he smiled when he saw Pan lying in the grass, fast asleep.  
  
Trunks laughed, "You look much nicer when you're asleep, and when you keep your mouth shut."  
  
Pan's reply was a soft snore. Trunks chuckled to himself and prepared to rest a while also, it wasn't like he could drag her back to her house, he didn't even know where her house was! As Trunks dozed off into the dream world, he felt a sudden tight feeling in his chest, where Vegeta had punched him. He shrugged it off and went to sleep.  
  
~*~  
  
Pan rubbed her eyes, "What time is it?" She looked beside her and screamed, "10 'clock!"  
  
Trunks made a muffling noise, apparently still trying to sleep. Pan shook him violently by the shoulders, "Wake up!"  
  
Trunks made another muffled noise. Pan sighed and threw a rock at him, which hit his head and Trunks yelped, "Why did you do that?"  
  
Pan sighed again, "Are you awake yet?"  
  
Trunks stood up, rubbed his head and asked, "Who are you? Where am I? Who am I?"  
  
Pan rolled her eyes, "Gimme a break, Trunks, you actually think I'm going to fall for that?"  
  
Trunks groaned and sat back down on the ground, "Awww. . . it was a good try, though."  
  
"If you consider pathetic good."  
  
Trunks yawned and tried to go back to sleep. Pan shook him again by his shoulders, "Hey! We have to go and find your chain, remember?"  
  
Trunks raised a hand, "That's alright, I don't need it anyways."  
  
Pan's jaw dropped and she started yelling, "WELL, I DIDN'T GET UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT TO HELP YOU FIND SOMETHING YOU DIDN'T WANT!!"  
  
"But, Panny." Trunks pointed out, "You didn't find it, as far as we know, it's probably in some fatso's stomach by now."  
  
Pan yelled again, "First, don't call me Panny! And we're going to find that chain of yours if I have to drag you! And the festival doesn't start until 3."  
  
Trunks yawned, "Fine, fine, whatever, but after we find my chain, can I go to sleep?"  
  
Pan rolled her eyes, "I am very worried about having you as the future ruler of our planet."  
  
Trunks' voice suddenly turned cold, "I'm not going to be the ruler of anything, especially not this planet."  
  
Pan looked surprised, "Why not? You're the only son of the King, as far as I know."  
  
Trunks clenched his fists, "You mean my father? I'm not a son of his, I'm just someone that he has to put up with until I get married and breed to produce a future heir for the throne."  
  
Pan laughed, "Surely, he's not that bad."  
  
Trunks didn't say anything so Pan untied the horses that were both quite hungry and led them off to graze.  
  
When Pan returned, she didn't see Trunks so she sat back down by the rock and stared up at the moving clouds. How beautiful they were! How she wished that she could be lost forever in them! How she wished that someone would lo-"  
  
"PAN!!!"  
  
Pan, who was mildly annoyed because her thoughts had been interrupted, yelled, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?!"  
  
There was silence, Pan snickered, she must've scared Trunks pretty bad.  
  
"PAN!!!"  
  
Or not. . . Pan shook her head and asked, "What do you want?"  
  
"PAN!!!"  
  
"Would you stop calling my name?" Pan sighed.  
  
"Could you come here?" A whimper was heard.  
  
Pan sighed again and stood up, she walked to where the voice was coming from, the small lake behind a small bunch of trees. She spotted a violet lilypad in the water and asked, "Why are you swimming?"  
  
Half of Trunks' face popped up above the water, "Well, I saw how nice this lake was, and I thought how nice it would be if I just took a dip and I-"  
  
Pan rolled her eyes, "Spare me the details, why do you need my help?"  
  
Trunks blushed, "Well, uh, something ran away with my clothes."  
  
Pan blinked twice, "What?"  
  
Trunks blushed again, "I left my clothes by that tree and something ran off with it."  
  
Pan slapped her forehead, "You idiot! Why would you just leave your clothes there? Was it a bear? Or a fox?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
Pan asked, "Well, what was the creature that ran off with your clothes?"  
  
Trunks said sheepishly, "It was a couple of chipmunks, from the looks of it."  
  
Pan laughed, "Your favourite animals ran away with your clothes! This is something that only happens in Disney movies!"  
  
Trunks blushed again and Pan suddenly realized something, "But chipmunks don't steal clothes."  
  
"Well. . ." Trunks hesitated and shivered. Pan laughed again, "The water is cold, isn't it?"  
  
Trunks nodded and continued, "Well, when we were at your uncle's shop, looking for my chain, I kinda-um. . . snatched a piece of cake and because I was so sleepy, I just stuffed it in my pocket."  
  
Pan stared at him in disbelief, "You stuffed a piece of chocolate cake in your pocket? Are you sane?"  
  
Trunks snapped, "Hey! I was sleepy at the time, so lay off, okay?"  
  
Pan sighed, "So you've lost your clothes and you want me to buy you some new ones, right?"  
  
Trunks nodded and Pan sighed again, "You owe me big for this, well, hand it over."  
  
"Hand what over?"  
  
"Your money! Jeez! You don't expect me to use my own money for this, do you?" Pan yelled, very exasperated.  
  
"Well, my money was sorta in my clothes. . . so. . ."  
  
Pan shook her head, "Fine. . . I'll go home and get something from there."  
  
Trunks smiled, "Thank you." He then sneezed, "And please hurry!"  
  
Pan tried hard not to laugh and she whistled, Algae came trotting over and she hopped on the pitch-black horse and sped home.  
  
~*~  
  
Trunks waited for what seemed like hours in the freezing lake before he saw a figure on a horse approaching him.  
  
He moved his frozen limbs towards the edge of the pond, when he realized that the figure on the horse wasn't Pan, he dove back under the water.  
  
"Hello?" The person called.  
  
Trunks knew it was rude to ignore a greeting, so he stuck a hand out of the water and waved.  
  
The figure laughed, and Trunks' recognized the voice as a woman's, he poked his head out of the water and stared at the girl, who was wearing a very large wooden clock on her head.  
  
"Er. . .why are you wearing a clock on your head?" Trunks asked.  
  
The girl laughed again as she spoke, "I must never lose track of time, it's more important to me than anything."  
  
Trunks asked, "Have you ever heard of watches?"  
  
The girl laughed again, "You've got a good sense of humour, I like that."  
  
Trunks looked at the strange girl closer, she had long, shiny brown hair tied back in a ponytail. Her eyes were of a glittering blue. Before Trunks could say anything the girl jumped off her horse and walked closer to Trunks, "Have you any idea what time it is?"  
  
"Hey, you're the one with the clock on your head."  
  
The girl laughed again, "Time is very valuable, you know."  
  
Trunks wondered what the hell this girl wanted, as he was pondering, he saw the girl remove her jacket and saw, that she was wearing dozens of watches all along her arm, she was wearing a dress that looked like one big clock. Trunks rubbed his eyes, nope, the girl was still there. So, after many pinches and punches, Trunks discovered that he wasn't dreaming.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
The girl smiled, "Time."  
  
"You're weird. . . are you related to Pan?"  
  
The girl smiled again, "What's your name?"  
  
"Er. . .Trunks."  
  
"My name is Emit." The girl smiled once again.  
  
"Er. . .nice to meet you. . .do you live around here?" Trunks asked, nervously.  
  
Emit stepped into the water and Trunks asked, "Are you sure all of those watches are waterproof?"  
  
Emit smiled again and stepped closer to Trunks, who was backing up as fast as he can. Until he could back up no more, Trunks stopped and Emit advanced towards him until they were almost nose-to-nose. Trunks didn't like the fact that he wasn't wearing anything but Emit said sternly, "You don't have much time left."  
  
"You mean I'm going to die?"  
  
"Your sense of humour could get you in serious trouble, you can't afford anymore wastes of time."  
  
Trunks asked, "Who are you and what the hell do you want from me?"  
  
Emit smiled, "You know as well as I do that you can't hide from your problems forever. What you need is time."  
  
"But I- what are you talking about?"  
  
Emit yelled really loudly, in his face, "GET SOME MORE TIME FOR ME! I WANT TIME!"  
  
Just then, Trunks heard a familiar voice, "Emit, what are you doing?"  
  
Trunks saw Pan and sighed a breath of relief, he scrambled out of the lake and hid behind her. Pan blushed and threw some clothes at him. Trunks realized, once again, that he wasn't wearing anything. So, sheepishly, he put on his clothes and asked, "Do you know her?"  
  
Pan nodded and turned to the girl, "Emit? Aren't you going to be late?"  
  
Emit smiled, "Nah, I always enjoy scaring the heck out of strangers."  
  
Trunks looked at Pan, puzzled, "Who is she?"  
  
"Emit is a friend of mine, she has been chosen to perform the time dance at the harvest festival this year." Pan explained.  
  
"Oh. . ." Trunks felt embarrassed for falling for her trick, "That wasn't too nice of her, though."  
  
Pan laughed and placed a hand on Trunks' shoulder, "Don't worry, Emit is actually quite nice, she likes to pull jokes on people, though."  
  
Emit got out of the water and jumped on her horse, "Bye Pan! Meet you at the festival!"  
  
Pan waved, "See you later!"  
  
Emit laughed, "Bye Trunks! Guard your time well!"  
  
Trunks shuddered at the weird girl and Pan asked, "Were you scared of her?"  
  
Trunks shook his head and Pan climbed on Algae, "Well, c'mon we'd better get going also."  
  
Trunks nodded weakly and climbed on Flame, he had realized a grim fact, Emit was right. He was running out of time, with his 30th birthday coming up in a couple of months, he couldn't possibly hide from his problems forever. He winced as he felt the pain in his chest again. He shook it away and caught up to Pan. . .  
  
~*~  
  
I'm sorry, that was a really horrible chapter, but it was necessary for Trunks to realize that, he was, running out of time. Don't worry, I put Emit in the story for a reason, she will be in further chapters. Please Review! Please! Please! I'll give Juunana plushies for all those who review! *points to two piles of Juunana plushies* Oh, incase you're wondering why there are two piles it's because one is just plain plushies, and the other pile of Juunana plushies has detachable clothes. *evil grin* So c'mon, Review!!!  
  
-Juunanagou4ever 


	9. The almighty and noble Poodle Philosophe...

Do you guys want a light G/B in the story? Or just completely T/P? Please tell me, for I need to know!  
  
Anyways, here's the next chappie for The Apple Tree.  
  
~*~  
  
"Hello, Goten!"  
  
Goten tilted his head 90 degrees and waved, "Hello, Emit, why are you wet?"  
  
Emit shook her head, which must've been hard because the clock looked like it weighed a ton, "I couldn't help it, saw a weird guy swimming in a lake and I decided to bug him."  
  
"Ah. . .I feel sorry for that guy." Goten smirked, Emit was well known in the small village, because of her incredible talent to sing and dance and also for her ability to bug and annoy strangers.  
  
"So, how's life with Pan?" Emit jumped off her horse, and started to help Goten unload some of the soups and breads from his wooden cart.  
  
"Tiring, that girl can never sit still, I worry about her sometimes." Goten started to cut the huge chocolate cake into small pieces, with his excellent wrist movements, it was only a matter of minutes before he was done. He and Emit began to move the pieces of cake from his cart to a large table. Other people were rushing about which different dishes and platters of food, preparing for the one of the largest festival of the year. The Fall Harvest.  
  
"That's for sure, I wonder if she'll ever get settled and have a family." Emit whispered softly.  
  
Goten laughed, "Pan? Settled? Yeah, right, it's an amazement if she stays still for a minute." They both laughed and finished putting the pieces of cake on the table. "Thanks Emit, want a piece of cake?"  
  
"Sure, I was wondering when you were going to ask." Emit grinned and bit into a piece of delicious, double-layered, chocolate cake. One of Goten's assistants called him and Goten excused himself and told Emit she could have as much cake as she wanted.  
  
Emit was trying to not get chocolate on her watches when she bit into something hard, she examined the piece of cake and saw that there was a long, chocolate-covered chain in it. She pulled it out of the cake and washed the chocolate off from a bucket of water. There was a line of words engraved in it, 'Trunks Vegeta-Briefs' if it had a name than obviously it belonged to someone. She decided to tell Goten about it, but he was nowhere to be found. She spotted Marron in the quickly increasing crowd and waved.  
  
"Marron? Have you seen Goten?"  
  
Marron shook her head and yelled, "No, but some people over there are looking for you!" She pointed towards a group of dancers, who were accompanying Emit in her time dance.  
  
Emit slipped the chain over her neck, she didn't want to lose it, it looked expensive and important, but she had no pockets. She quickly squeezed through the crowd and joined her dance group.  
  
~*~  
  
"Pan! Slow down!" Trunks sneezed, he was definitely coming down with a cold, "Pan!"  
  
Pan sighed and slowed down, "Must you constantly whine? It gets extremely annoying."  
  
Trunks grunted, "Well, you're not the one with constant chest pains."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing." Trunks didn't what Pan to know about the tight feelings that he had been feeling in his chest lately, he suspected that the wound Vegeta had made was more serious than he thought, but he didn't want Pan to have another reason to tease him about, the last thing he wanted was for her to call him a sissy.  
  
"Hey, Trunks?" Pan snickered softly, "Are your favourite animals still chipmunks?"  
  
Trunks nodded, sadly, even after the clothes-stealing incident, he still felt compassion for those cute, cuddly, furry little creatures. Pan snickered again and Trunks shot her a icy look.  
  
They arrived at the town square late because Trunks and Pan were arguing half of the way, from everything like horses to chocolate. Pan squealed, "Ohhh!!!! Look, the dance is starting!" She left Algae to the horse tender and Trunks did the same, then they both squeezed in the front of the crowd to get a better view.  
  
Pan smiled at her friend, who was dancing beautifully, and Trunks just gaped at Emit, she had been scaring him before, maybe that's why he didn't realize that she was so beautiful, even with the clock on her head, and her weird costume, it was as plain as day to see that she had a great figure and a gorgeous face.  
  
When the dance ended, everyone clapped loudly, especially Trunks, who had been wondering why there hasn't been pretty girls around the castle, he had lived there all his life and didn't notice anything special about the supposedly 'fair maidens'. Maybe it was because they all looked alike in a way, he thought to himself that peasants were more of a natural beauty than a beauty obtained with jewels and makeup, after all, Celeste was a peasant. . .  
  
Emit bowed and smiled, she walked over to where Pan and Trunks were standing, Pan called excitedly, "Emit! That was great!"  
  
Emit smiled , "Thanks, Pan." She noticed Trunks standing beside Pan and smiled again, "Have you been keeping track of your time lately?"  
  
Trunks backed away slowly, beautiful women were often scary. Emit was very beautiful and very scary. Pan laughed, "What's wrong, Trunks? Scared of a girl with a clock on her head?"  
  
Trunks wanted to nod, but being the arrogant prince that he was, he cleared his throat, "Of course not, I'm just unaccustomed to these strange festivals of you peasants."  
  
Emit looked interested, "Well, you're not a 'peasant'?"  
  
Trunks shook his head, "Of course not, I'm the almighty and noble p-" He realized his mistake and quickly stopped.  
  
Emit folded her arms, "You're what?"  
  
Pan quickly blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "He's a poodle."  
  
Trunks raised an eyebrow, "I'm a poodle?"  
  
Emit frowned, "What?"  
  
Pan quickly added, "What I meant was he was a philosopher."  
  
Emit asked, "What has that got to do with poodles?"  
  
"Er. . .he's a poodle philosopher, a philosopher of poodles, I mean." Pan added.  
  
Trunks yelled, "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"  
  
Pan yelled back, "Shut up! I'm just trying to help!"  
  
"You guys are really weird." Said the girl with the clock on her head.  
  
Pan threw her arms in the air, "Trunks? Who cares what you are? We're here to find your chain! You idiot!"  
  
"I'm not an idiot, why must you constantly call me names?" Trunks whined.  
  
Pan stomped her foot, "Trunks! Why are you so whiny!"  
  
Suddenly, shouts and screams were heard from the crowd, Pan jerked her head around to see someone dashing away on a horse. She swore out loud, "Jeez, what a bastard! This is a festival, after all! Somebody could get hurt!"  
  
Trunks yelped, "Hey! I think that's my horse! I can see the blue and gold ribbon on it!"  
  
Pan asked, "Trunks, why would you leave a ribbon on your horse?"  
  
"Because, that symbolizes that the horse belongs to the royal stable." Trunks explained.  
  
"And that makes the horse worth more, so that's probably why someone stole your horse." Emit added in her own two bits.  
  
Pan sighed, "Oh great, now we have to get your horse back also." She whistled and Algae came dashing near her, quick as lightning, Pan leapt on her horse and was off after the thieves.  
  
Trunks yelled, "Pan! Wait! What about me?"  
  
Emit stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled also, her golden horse appeared in front of her with a neigh. She gestured to Trunks, "Climb on."  
  
Trunks drew a breath, "Whoa, nice horse, what's its name?"  
  
"Echo." Emit said softly.  
  
"Echo, huh?" Trunks smiled, "That's a nice name, it sorta goes with yours."  
  
Emit smiled, "On the contrary, echoes occur again and again, but time is an indefinite dimension, it never occurs more than twice."  
  
Trunks was puzzled, "What does time have to do with your name?"  
  
Emit laughed and climbed on to the horse, "Figure it out yourself."  
  
Trunks decided to ponder about that later, and he climbed on the horse also, he felt the pain in his chest again, but he shrugged it away.  
  
~*~  
  
Pan loved the way the wind blew in her hair, she enjoyed it so much, she almost forgot that she had to get Flame back for Trunks. She muttered to herself, "Stupid prince, he's always causing trouble."  
  
She knew the forest like the back of her hand, truth be told, she didn't look at the back of her hand very often, who does?  
  
She muttered to herself again, "Why do I even bother helping him with this kind of stuff? It's not like he's my friend or anything like that, he's a prince, for goodness sakes. Next time, he can just take care of it himself."  
  
Pan suddenly thought of something, he was a prince, and that means he had have to go back to the castle sometimes, after that, she'd probably never see him again. She'd have no more memories of a certain violet haired boy.  
  
She'd miss his obsession with chipmunks.  
  
She'd miss his corny jokes.  
  
She'd miss him annoying her.  
  
She'd miss him.  
  
Pan shrugged off the feeling, "Who cares about him, anyways, he'd just forget about me, anyways." And she concentrated on catching the thieves.  
  
~*~  
  
"So, you're a poodle philosopher?" Emit asked.  
  
"Uh . . . no, Pan just made that up." Trunks admitted.  
  
Emit laughed, "I know, Pan acts purely on impulse, but I know who you are."  
  
"Really? How?"  
  
"I know everything about you. You're the prince, aren't you." Echo ran faster to catch up to Pan.  
  
Trunks nodded, "But, how do you know?"  
  
Emit didn't reply, instead she murmured to herself, "Time knows everything."  
  
Soon, the golden horse caught up to Algae and Pan. Pan took one look at Trunks and started snickering, "So, you have to ride with a girl, hey?"  
  
Trunks folded his arms, "Not funny."  
  
A little girl's laughs interrupted their little bickering session, and all three people jumped off the horse.  
  
The horse stealer was apparently talking with the little girl. Pan yelled, "You stop that! You've already got the horse, what do you want with the little girl?"  
  
The horse stealer, who was wearing a cloak, ignored her, and continued talking to the little girl.  
  
Trunks stepped forward, "You there! Give me back my horse!"  
  
Still the figure ignored them and continued talking with the little girl, who was laughing like mad.  
  
Emit warned them, "Don't do anything foolish, there's something not quite right here."  
  
Pan, of course, didn't listen to Emit and charged at the horse stealer who raised one hand and a shot a ki beam at Pan, who was thrust backwards.  
  
She crashed into Trunks, and they both landed on the ground, "Hey! Watch it!"  
  
"You watch it! You're the one that crashed into me!"  
  
The thieve then spoke, "The prince returns with me, the rest of you, will die."  
  
Emit asked calmly, "If your intentions are good, why must we die?"  
  
"I'm impressed, you're quite a talented girl, aren't you? Too bad, I don't want to waste a good psyche, but I'm afraid I have to follow my orders."  
  
"You're a girl, aren't you?" Trunks asked.  
  
"Yes, but that is of no importance, and now, you two must die!" The woman pointed to both of Emit and Pan.  
  
"What makes you think that you can kill us?" Emit asked, her voice surprising eerie.  
  
Trunks thought to himself, whoa, I'm surrounded by psycho women, one who calls me Chipmunk Boy, the other one with a clock on her head, and now a murderous one.  
  
Pan, who has now recovered from her fall, shook her hands, "Yeah! It's the three of us against you."  
  
The thieve, now known to be a woman, laughed, "The prince is in no condition to fight, you're too weak, so that leaves the psychic."  
  
Pan shouted, "I am not weak!! And what do you mean, Trunks is in no condition to fight?"  
  
Trunks puzzled over the fact that Emit was psychic as Pan screamed her head off at the woman.  
  
Emit held out a hand to make Pan shut up, "If we gave the prince to you, will you let us go?"  
  
Pan and Trunks both dropped their jaws. The woman chuckled, "Smart girl, you know you can't beat me, but no, you still die."  
  
Pan yelled, "We're not giving up without a fight!"  
  
Emit murmured, "Pan, don't do anything rash, she's got the little girl as hostage."  
  
The woman laughed again, "That's right, Pan, actually, I was only ordered to kill the psychic, but I'm killing you for your name."  
  
"What do you mean? What's wrong with my name?" Pan pouted.  
  
"It resembles my name, Panic, and I cannot allow that." The woman, who now was known as Panic, raised a hand.  
  
Trunks asked, "What do you want with me?"  
  
Panic advanced towards Trunks, "You will know, once you come with me, won't you?"  
  
Trunks backed up slowly, "What if I refuse?"  
  
Panic pointed a finger at Pan, "Then I will kill her."  
  
"But you're going to kill her anyways."  
  
Panic smiled, "Maybe I've changed my mind."  
  
Trunks drew a breath, "What about Emit?"  
  
"She dies, no matter what, that was in my orders."  
  
Pan tackled Panic, "Not if I can help it!"  
  
"You're only making things more complicated, girl." Panic held Pan's throat with one hand, "Alright then, you'll be the first to die."  
  
Trunks rushed forward to help Pan, but with a thrust of Panic's hand, he flew backwards and hit a tree, he felt the chest pains again and felt something in his throat.  
  
He coughed and saw fresh red blood, and then he saw darkness . . .  
  
~*~  
  
Whew! Sorry I haven't updated for so long, well, Trunks is now unconscious, Pan on the verge of death . . . what will happen? Find out . . . only if you review!  
  
(I always say that, but then I update anyways)  
  
So . . . now I'm off to work on I'll never forget, (finally!)  
  
-Juunanagou4ever 


	10. The nightmare begins

I know, I like all my stories very, very, complicated, and yes, I'm adding another character to this story. *sigh* When will I ever learn?  
  
~*~  
  
"PRINCE!!!" Panic screamed and ran forward to help him up, as she did so, her hood fell off her head, revealing a head full of long golden hair and Emit also rushed forward to help Trunks.  
  
Pan fell onto the ground with a thud, and she rubbed her neck, "Ow . . ." And when she saw both Panic and Emit huddled around Trunks she muttered, "What the? One minute she's a murderer and the next she's Repunzel."  
  
Tears rushed to Panic's eyes, "Oh, I'm sorry, Prince, if I had known that this would happen, I wouldn't have pulled such a big prank."  
  
Emit patted her on the shoulder gently, "Panic, you didn't know, it's not your fault."  
  
Pan asked, puzzledly, "You two know each other?! But . . . I don't get it." 


	11. The nightmare continues

THE WHOLE THING DIDN'T DOWNLOAD LAST TIME!! ARGH!!!! ARGH!!!!!!!!!! DAMN IT!!  
  
~*~  
  
Emit and Panic both ignored her and Panic tore a piece of fabric off her cloak and wrapped it around Trunks' wound, Emit felt his psyche slowly dropping and announced, "We'd better get him to some safe place, now."  
  
Pan scratched her head, "Um . . . weren't you trying to kill me?"  
  
Panic tossed her head around, tears spilling out of her large blue eyes, "No! It was a joke! Just a joke!"  
  
Pan asked, "So, Trunks' knew you, too?! And he was playing along? And you and Emit know each other?!"  
  
Panic nodded again, Pan blinked twice before yelling, "Well! It wasn't very funny!" And she ran off into the forest, ashamed that she had fallen for a trick like that, and also mad because Trunks' hadn't told her about it.  
  
She expected someone to chase after her, while apologizing, but no one came, so she ran further and further, all alone. And in her mind she screamed, "I HATE THEM! I HATE THEM ALL! HOW COULD THEY PULL SUCH A MEAN PRANK ON ME!! AND EMIT! SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MY FRIEND! "  
  
As she stopped and slid down besides a tree she mumbled, "And Trunks, he doesn't care about me at all . . ."  
  
~*~  
  
Trunks opened his eyes, his head felt like it was about to explode, he saw Panic and her long wavy hair was tucked into a bun, "Prince, are you alright?"  
  
Trunks nodded weakly and saw that it was dark, he glanced around and realized that he didn't where he was, "Where am I? Where is Pan?"  
  
Emit, who had just stepped into the room said quietly, "You're at my house, and I don't know where Pan is, she ran out on us, and I just went to look for her, but she's blocking herself from me, I cannot find her that way."  
  
Trunks asked, confusedly, "So, I had been out for, well, since it's dark, a couple of hours?"  
  
Emit shook her head, "No, two and a half days."  
  
Trunks leapt up, "What?! That long?!"  
  
Panic pushed him back down, "Prince, you mustn't be overly-excited, it can only lead to fully developing of your wounds."  
  
"But, what about Pan? Is she at her house?"  
  
Emit shook her head again, "No, she's not at Goten's or Marron's or anyone else's for that matter, my guess is that she's been taken by Slave Traders."  
  
"What? How can you say that?" Trunks yelled, "She's probably just mad and hiding!"  
  
Emit looked at him sadly, "You do not know these parts as I do, although this is a peaceful village, there are many gangs of slave traders, and all of them are highly skilled in combat, their targets are single teenage girls out alone in the forest."  
  
"B-but, Pan can fight, right? And she-" Trunks asked, concern showing in his voice.  
  
"She knows the basics, but due to her hastiness and her temper, she never took time to develop her skills further, she never really got into the art of fighting, just the mere basic moves." Emit explained, sitting down on a chair.  
  
"But, you're her friend, and why aren't you helping her?!" Trunks asked, almost yelled.  
  
Emit didn't reply, "There's nothing I can do, I have lost several other companions due to the slave traders, trying to help just ends up getting the person killed."  
  
Trunks started to get up, "Well, if you won't help her, then I will!"  
  
Panic pushed him back down in his bed firmly, "No, prince, you are to rest, after all, you are the heir of this kingdom, and since my duty is your bodyguard, I will not risk you putting yourself in danger."  
  
"B-but . . ." Trunks started.  
  
"No buts, you can go find this Pan girl after you are better."  
  
"How long will that take?" Trunks asked.  
  
"About two and a half weeks." Both Panic and Emit said at the same time.  
  
Trunks opened his mouth to argue when Panic held a piece of damp paper over his nose, as the drug slowly reached into Trunks, he closed his eyes and fell into a deep, deep sleep.  
  
Emit muttered softly, "I'm sorry, but this was meant to be, you cannot fight the inevitable, you were not meant to be with her . . ."  
  
Panic sighed, "Ay, it is for the best, a prince running off with a peasant, what will become of this insanity?"  
  
"How long will he sleep?"  
  
Panic muttered, "Until his wounds fully heal, I'm sorry, but you will lose your friend."  
  
"I know, but it is he that I feel sorry for, because he, unlike her, doesn't have a choice."  
  
~*~  
  
"What do you want?" Pan asked coldly.  
  
The largely over-weight man held out a knife in front of her face, "Well, well, what do we have here? Another slave to be?"  
  
"In your dreams." Pan spat.  
  
The large man smirked, "You will not address me like that, after all, I am your new master. Until you are sold, that is"  
  
"No!" Pan yelled, "You're not!"  
  
The man grabbed her by one of her wrists and slung her over his shoulder, despite her yelling and kicking, he seemed to pay no attention to her feeble attempts to get free. "You should stop trying, it will only be harder on yourself, maybe if you're lucky, your new master might treat you a bit better."  
  
Pan kicked the man again, "I am not your bitch!"  
  
The man seemed to grow annoyed and struck her across her face and she fell to the ground, tears almost forming in her eyes, "Trunks? Why aren't you here?"  
  
If she had not been feeling so tired from a lack of sleep, she might have tried firing a ki beam or running away, but she was incredibly sleepy, and she slumped to the ground, wondering why her prince wasn't there to save her.  
  
She didn't know what would come of tomorrow, or what will become her future, but at the moment, she didn't care. As she struggled to stay awake, she thought she saw a blur appear from somewhere and lift her up, she closed her eyelids and sighed heavily.  
  
Trunks opened one eye, and to his surprise, neither Emit nor Panic was in the room, as he stood up, he felt a burning pain in his chest, but he somehow managed to stumble out the door with only one thing on his mind . . . Pan.  
  
When the fresh night air reach him, his mind seemed to clear a bit and he clenched his teeth and continued on wherever he was going, he knew he had to find Pan, because he had a bad feeling about this whole situation. And he rarely had bad feelings.  
  
But besides all that, he felt responsible for Pan's safety, after all, if it wasn't for him, she wouldn't be dragged into this mess. And as he stumbled into the thick forest he just realized that if even Emit the psychic could not find her, then he probably couldn't either, because at the moment, he couldn't tell the difference from a rock to his sister.  
  
His knees dropped to the ground, and he thought lazily, 'It wouldn't hurt if I just rested for another minute.' He glanced up at the stars and thought about how much he wanted Pan to be with him, laughing at him and calling him Chipmunk Boy. He was about to fall back asleep when he heard footsteps approaching him, he stayed as quiet as possible, but his violet hair did not blend in to the darkness very well, and as the heavy combat boots approached him, he heard a deep, harsh, voice, "Well, well, what do we have here? Another one? My, aren't we lucky?"  
  
Trunks glanced up and waved, "Er . . . hi, nice night, isn't it?"  
  
If he had seen the man's face, he would've seen a smirk, "Well, you're not a girl, but I bet you'll be a couple pieces of gold, for you know, the prince has purple hair also."  
  
"I prefer the term 'violet' if you don't mind." Trunks said, annoyed that his hair had become the main subject again. And he gave a little yelp as he felt himself being lifted by the man, for slave traders didn't lift princes often.  
  
Trunks was incredibly hungry, and he desperately longed for a piece of chocolate cake at the moment, but this was not the time, nor place to be thinking about cake, the slave trader had apparently brought him back to his hide-out, he had hoped that he would bring him to Pan. But then he remembered Emit talking about 'several' gangs of slave-traders around. And he was not too happy at the thought of being traded. He ran his fingers through his silky hair and muttered, "What if my hair gets ruined?"  
  
The man dropped him, very rudely in what appeared to be a prison cell which was pitch black, but Trunks heard a couple of other noises in it and put his hands over his hair protectively.  
  
"LET GO OF ME, YOU BASTARD!" A familiar voice shouted.  
  
Trunks smiled, it was Pan! But she wasn't in his cell, the voice came from down the hallway. And Trunks wondered how he could get out of his cell. He at last came to one solution, he couldn't get out of his cell, but he could probably weave a sombrero out of hay and sell it to one of the slave traders in exchange for a key.  
  
"Yeah, right, Trunks . . ." He muttered to himself, "Like you know how to weave a sombrero . . ."  
  
But then, it was probably a coincidence, he just realized that he could probably knock one of the bars down, so he tried, without attracting attention, to use the energy of a ki ball, to melt one of the bars, but he realized that a ki ball would be too bright, and it would take a while. So he did the next thing that came to his mind, he bashed one of the bars with his shoulder, the bar hit the ground with a loud crash and Trunks quickly leapt through the gap.  
  
He decided that now wasn't the best time to do a victory dance, so he dashed, or in his case, wobbled down the hallway, and tried his best to find where Pan's voice had come from, and then he suddenly realized that she might not be in the best of situations, so he quickened his steps. And he stopped in front of the last doorway of the hall.  
  
God, he hoped that she was playing Nintendo or something because he heard her voice again,  
  
"GET YOUR DAMN HANDS OFF OF ME!"  
  
Maybe she was playing a Mortal Combat video game, and her opponent had her in some special move. Or maybe she was playing Super Mario Bros. Melee and was Captain Falcon or something.  
  
So he took a deep breath and prepared himself for whatever sight he might come across and when he dashed into the room, nothing could have prepared him for what was occurring in front of him, and let's just say, he did not like what he saw at all.  
  
~*~  
  
I must say, that was an evil cliffy, wasn't it?  
  
Well, review then, and maybe I'll get the next chapter up faster . . . and I will give . . . Vegeta plushies to all those who review! *points to large pile of Vegeta plushies*  
  
So review if you want a limited edition Vegeta plushie!  
  
*Sorry, the whole thing did not download last time, that's why it was soooooooooo short*  
  
-Juuanangou4ever 


	12. The nightmare ends, or does it?

Do you notice a connection here? Emit likes to pull pranks on strangers, and so does Panic, just what is Emit's secret anyways? Heehee, only I know!  
  
And for those of you that are asking, Panic is not Celeste, neither is Emit, alright?  
  
~*~  
  
"The prince! He's gone!" Panic screamed.  
  
Emit calmly walked into the room and asked, "I'm making tea, would you like some?"  
  
"How can you be calm?! THE PRINCE IS GONE!" Panic yelled, tears forming in her eyes, "He will surely die in his condition! And it's all because of that stupid peasant girl that has my name!"  
  
Emit asked again, "How many spoons of sugar do you take in your tea?"  
  
"How can you be thinking of tea at a time of great despair?!" Panic cried.  
  
Emit poured the tiniest bit of milk in her tea, "You should try milk in it, it makes the tea taste much more smoother."  
  
Panic yelled again, "What is wrong with you? Why must you be so calm about everything?"  
  
Emit eyed her coldly, "Everything happens for a reason, to deny or question those reasons are just complete wastes of time, and time must not be wasted."  
  
"ARGH!" Panic screamed, "Sometimes you make no sense at all!!"  
  
"On the contrary." Emit sipped her tea, "The people who make the most sense are considered the most erratic ones."  
  
Panic moaned, "And now you're going to tell me looking for the prince would be of no use at all, right?"  
  
Emit nodded, "Correct, and you might want this." She pulled Trunks' gold chain from her neck and tossed it to a sobbing Panic, "And don't cry, that wastes time also, and it also stains my carpet."  
  
Panic sniffed, "The prince's chain! But it never leaves his side, er . . . neck!"  
  
Emit smiled, "Funny how things that were meant to be are so greatly appreciated."  
  
Panic moaned and sat down in a chair, "Emit, I never thought I'd be the one to say this, but, you're so weird!"  
  
Emit beamed, "Thank you, my friend, tea?"  
  
Panic sighed, "Why not?"  
  
~*~  
  
Trunks cried, "Pan!" And he rushed forward to help the unconscious girl up, her hair was in a tangled mess, her clothes were torn with drenched blood, and her skin was badly bruised, their were slash-like marks all along her arms and legs, which made Trunks conclude that they were either caused by a whip or a Tyrannosaurus Rex.  
  
Pan slowly opened an eye, "Trunks . . . is that you?"  
  
"Of course it's me, I mean, who else has a gorgeous face like mine?" Trunks grinned.  
  
"Yup, it definitely you, I've never met anyone more vain." Pan tried to get up and she moaned when she realized that she couldn't move her right ankle.  
  
Trunks picked her up in his arms, "Here, I'll carry you."  
  
Pan growled, "Don't drop me like that oaf did."  
  
Trunks raised an eyebrow, "And the story behind that would be . . ."  
  
Pan explained, "Well, there was this large pig-like guy carrying me in here, and on the way, he slipped on a banana peel and dropped me, which is probably why my ankle is twisted."  
  
Trunks sighed, "I'm really sorry, I didn't expect that you'd be like this, I mean, all I expected was for you to get raped, but I really didn't expect you to be hurt and-"  
  
Pan whacked him on his head, "YOU JERK! You expected me to be raped?! What kind of a sicko are you?!"  
  
Trunks rubbed his head, "Ouchies, that hurt, why must you constantly hit me on the head?"  
  
Pan suddenly clung on to his neck, "Thanks Trunks, I didn't think you'd show up and rescue me, well . . . you didn't exactly rescue me, but I was getting very bored so at least now I can talk to someone."  
  
Trunks smiled, "Of course, it is always a princes' duty to save damsels in distress."  
  
Pan pulled her head closer to his and he stiffened, not knowing what she was about to do next, and her lips were inches away from his ear when she yelled, "I WASN'T IN DISTRESS, YOU IDIOT!"  
  
Trunks yelped and clutched his ear with one hand, and onto his head with the other one, causing Pan to fall on to the ground and be knocked unconscious.  
  
"Opps . . . sorry, Panny." Trunks muttered, "Well, at least you're quiet now." And he picked her up again and carried her slowly out of the room.  
  
But slave traders do not let slaves get away so easily, as soon as Trunks stepped out of the room, a slave trader saw him, "Hey! Who are you?!"  
  
"Er . . . I'm Pan's second cousin, twice-removed?" Trunks frowned.  
  
"What are you talking about?" The slave trader walked closer to Trunks.  
  
"Wow, you really are an oaf." Trunks gaped at the size of the monster.  
  
"WHAT?!" The giant bellowed, "HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME?! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"  
  
Trunks chose not to answer that and started walking slowly down the narrow corridor. The oaf yelled again, "ARE YOU IGNORING ME?!"  
  
Trunks muttered quietly to himself, "Of course not, who could miss that stomach of yours?"  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
Okay, maybe Trunks' voice was louder than he thought. He decided to run, but before he could put his brilliant plan into action, two more slave traders appeared in front of him, both just as fat as the first one.  
  
"Oh, look." Trunks murmured, "It's Tweedledee and Tweedledum, super-sized."  
  
One blow sent Trunks crashing into the wall, he mused to himself, "I have got to learn to keep my mouth shut."  
  
He set Pan down gently in the corner and smirked, "I'm saving your life, and you better appreciate it.  
  
He glanced at the three giant people surrounding him and got into fighting stance, "Maybe the palace life isn't that bad, after all, there's only one of my dad, and at least he's my size."  
  
The first giant attack him, Trunks jumped aside and elbowed him on his back, "Ouch! Score one for Trunks!"  
  
The next giant charged at him while the other one grabbed his legs trying to slow him down, Trunks smirked and kneed him, right in the groin. As the giant collapsed on the ground, Trunks smiled victoriously, "Two down, one to go . . . er, make that a very big one."  
  
The last remaining giant kicked him, but due to Trunks' size, he quickly jumped aside, but just then, the first giant stood up and held his arms together with amazing strength, allowing direct damage to be made by the other giant. Trunks struggled to get out of his grasp and he did, at the exact moment the other giant landed a punch, right on his wound. Trunks gasped in pain as his wound re-opened, and the other giant used this opportunity to pin him against the wall, then, he and the other giant teamed up to punch Trunks. As Trunks winced in pain, he muttered to himself, "Our hero is on the verge of life and death, and his female fans are cheering for him to live, but well he? Of course, there is only one way to find out."  
  
Trunks felt a piercing pain in his chest, and kicked one giant down, but the other giant grabbed him by his hair and laughed cruelly, a mistake no one makes twice. Trunks glared at the man, "Mess with the hair? A fatal mistake." He raised his palm to let out a ki beam, with used up the remainders of his strength. The last giant coughed once and fell on to the ground, dead.  
  
Trunks wiped a bit of blood away from his mouth and grinned at Pan, "Hey, don't I get a victory hug?"  
  
When no reply came from the unconscious girl, Trunks picked her up and stumbled out of the cave. It was raining outside and Trunks took a few steps, letting the rain soak his hair, he closed his eyes, and fell on to the ground, blood seeping through his wound.  
  
~*~  
  
Pan opened an eye and wondered why she was so cold, she realized that the sun was rising and raised a hand to wipe her wet hair away from her eyes, when she saw that her hand was covered with blood, she screamed. Her body ached all over, but she did not understand why she had blood on her hand, she saw no wound, yet the blood was there, and when she examined it, it was fresh.  
  
She looked at her surroundings and saw that she was in the forest, and when she looked beside her, she screamed again, Trunks was lying on the ground, a large puddle of blood surrounding him.  
  
She crawled over to where he was and shook his shoulder, "Trunks? Trunks! Wake up!"  
  
He did not move, nor did he wake up.  
  
"C'mon! Wake up! You idiot!" Tears sprang to Pan's eyes when she saw that he wouldn't move.  
  
Did he die? Did he die trying to save her?  
  
No, he couldn't be dead, she would never forgive herself if he died because of her.  
  
"Trunks, wake up." Pan sobbed, "Please! Trunks, you gotta wake up!"  
  
Still, the violet haired boy would not budge.  
  
"Trunks! If you wake up, I'll bake you a cake everyday for the rest of your life!" Tears rolled down Pan's cheeks, a drop landed on Trunks' hand.  
  
Trunks moved his hand lightly, but enough so that Pan felt his movement. She smiled and shook his shoulder.  
  
Trunks opened his eyes slowly, "Did I hear you mention cake?"  
  
Pan laughed softly as she helped Trunks stand up, Trunks chuckled, "You should thank me for saving your life."  
  
Pan's laugh turned into a growl, "Thank you?! Did I ask to be saved?! I could've handled it fine, but look at you! You almost died!"  
  
Trunks laughed, "Why do you care?"  
  
He acts like it was nothing to him, didn't he know he could've been killed? Pan thought, If he died, I would never see those kind eyes of his, or hear that amiable laugh of his again.  
  
Trunks laughed again, running a hand through his wet hair, "I don't think it would have made a difference if I died, I mean, the only reason you put up with me is because you can insult me of my name and hair, I don't see why you'd care if I died."  
  
Pan yelled, "You jerk! What do you know? How could you say those things?! Of course I care, not just because I can insult you! I care because I love you!" She clasped her hands over her mouth, realizing the words that have just sprang out of her mouth.  
  
Trunks widened his eyes, which were full of surprise.  
  
Pan murmured, "Trunks, I-"  
  
Trunks turned around and said softly, but still loud enough for Pan to hear every single syllable of his words.  
  
"I'm sorry, I don't feel the same."  
  
He stumbled off on the dirt path, and soon out of sight, Pan slumped on the ground, with no sound surrounding her but the soft splashing of raindrops.  
  
~*~  
  
Please, don't flame because of this cliffie, which I must admit, was very evil, you all know I don't know any other way to end a chapter . . .  
  
Please review, poor Pan, eh?  
  
-Juunanagou4ever 


	13. A ball, and a prince's wedding

Opps sorry, I forgot to make a list, well, here are the people who get Veggie plushies.  
  
Kutie-Pan, Ameve, chibigoten124/SSJ3MysticPan, Pia Bartolini, Jewels45, Nikki, ssmoments, KoreanChick, t/ptears, juunanagous-girl13, nanami, pan/trunkskick, DBZChicky501, Pan8765, Aqua-Fresh-Ali, Always-a-kiwi, Azn- Dreamer, Videl, Gen, and anime-fan-4-ever.  
  
*hands Vegeta plushies to all of them* Here ya go, enjoy! And on the back of the Veggie plushie is a button that allows Vegeta's hair to light up!  
  
Super Saiya-jin Veggie!  
  
And yeah, the purpose of this ficcy is that Trunks' is afraid of being dumped again, so he rejected Pan even though he did not consider his own feelings.  
  
Anyways, here's the next chapter for The Apple Tree  
  
Enjoy!  
  
~*~  
  
Why? Why did he say that? He didn't need to say anything, it wasn't necessary, he didn't need to be so-so blunt! He could have laughed, or did something else, but he said as clear as possible, no. All of her feelings lately have just been one-sided.  
  
After all, he was a prince, how could she even have thought that he would have such feelings? She didn't know what she had expected. Surely she didn't expect him to tell her that he loved her back. Surely she expected differently. Or did she?  
  
Why? Why did she say that? How could she ever face him again, how could she ever look at those deep, blue eyes of his without thinking that she was rejected, so coldly and harshly. She wished that she had never said those words. She wished how she could turn back time.  
  
Time, hah, Emit would scream at her for even THINKING about turning back time, but Pan wished for nothing more.  
  
As Pan slowly struggled to walk back home her twisted ankle hurt like hell, but the pain was nothing compared to the inner pain that she was feeling. The pain of being rejected and by such a vain person like Trunks.  
  
She finally knew the true meaning of being heartbroken, how could she have said a thing? She's only known him for barely a week, yet it feels like that she's known him for an eternity.  
  
But now she knew he didn't feel the same way . . . and he made it as clear as possible, whoever said, 'Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me' is wrong. His words 'I don't feel the same' pierced her heart and poisoned her mind.  
  
Sticks and stones would be easier to bear.  
  
~*~  
  
"PRINCE! PRINCE! YOU'RE - so incredibly dirty!" Panic scrunched up her nose.  
  
"It's nice to see you too." Trunks mumbled.  
  
"Well, we should head back to the palace now, Prince." Panic nodded.  
  
"I guess we should . . ." Trunks murmured.  
  
Panic waved cheerfully at Emit, "Well? So long, Emit!"  
  
Emit didn't wave back, "You never know."  
  
Panic raised an eyebrow, "You are sooo weird!"  
  
"I prefer either 'unique' or 'truthful'." Emit said without a smile.  
  
Panic rolled her eyes, "Whatever!" She pulled out Trunks' chain and handed it to him, "Oh, by the way, Prince, Emit found this in a piece of cake, here ya go!"  
  
At the mention of cake, Trunks thought of Pan, and all their adven- er . . . misadventures together, him and her fighting on their first meeting, her saving him under the Apple Tree, her bribing him with cake, her and her rubber chicken, playing that weird game with her and her friend, Marron, her making fun of him and chipmunks, him being covered in chocolate, her uncle and his shop full of delicious sweets, them talking under the stars, chipmunks running away with his clothes, his first strange encounter with Emit, him as a poodle philosopher, all of her name calling, and her beautiful smile.  
  
He was going to miss all that, he had more adven- er . . . misadventures in this week than he's probably had all of his life.  
  
He chuckled to himself, after all? How many princes get their clothes stolen by chipmunks?  
  
Trunks shook his head, his violet bangs falling in his face, that was all in the past, he had to concentrate on his future now. He was turning thirty, and he needed a wife, and love or not, he realized that his country needed a ruler, and a good one at that, to prevent further incidents with slave traders and such.  
  
He sighed, it was like he was a different man, all of a sudden, he had suddenly grown up and felt emotions again. He hadn't felt so-so-so alive since he had met Celeste.  
  
As Panic dashed away on her horse, Trunks climbed Flame and waved at Emit, as he looked back at the village one more time, he muttered out.  
  
"Pan, don't hate me . . ."  
  
And he dashed off.  
  
~*~  
  
2 weeks later . . .  
  
~*~  
  
"Panny?" Videl asked worriedly, "What's the matter? You've hardly eaten since you've been kidnapped by those slave-traders . . . but you're better now, aren't you?"  
  
Goten teased, "Maybe she broke up with that boyfriend of hers."  
  
Pan muttered, "Hah, boyfriend, in his dreams. What did I ever see in him anyways."  
  
Videl raised an eyebrow, "What?"  
  
"Nothing." Pan slowly climbed up the stairs. Her long hair swishing behind her.  
  
Videl sighed softly, "I hate to say this, but Panny's nearing the age of marrying, I hate to see her this depressed, what ever happened to that nice young man that she brought home a while ago?"  
  
Goten shrugged, "Like I said, maybe they broke up, anyways, if you want me to, Videl, I could ask around the village, I'm sure there are lots of boys looking for a bride."  
  
Videl chuckled, "Oh no, Gohan would have to come home first before we tell him, he doesn't want anything to happen to 'his little girl'."  
  
Just then, the doorbell rang, Goten opened the door and handed the mail to Videl, Videl went through all the usual bills and then noticed another letter at the bottom of the pile, it had a gold seal on it, indication that it came from the palace. But the funny thing was, it was addressed to her daughter.  
  
"Panny!" She called, "Mail for you!"  
  
Pan came shuffling down the stairs, she ripped open the letter envelope without any void of emotion on her face, and she skimmed through the contents and ripped it in two.  
  
"What's wrong, sweetie?" Videl asked.  
  
Pan didn't answer her, she instead headed back upstairs, dropping the ripped letter on the ground. Goten, ever the curious boy went to pick up the ripped pieces of paper, reading it quietly to himself.  
  
"What's that?" Videl asked.  
  
"The prince is getting married, all the unmarried maidens in the kingdom are to attend a ball, in which he shall choose a bride." Goten scratched his head, "It sorta reminds me of a certain Disney movie."  
  
Videl sighed softly, "I bet I know why Pan's angry, it's because the royals are such jerks, while they sit around doing nothing to maintain the country, they are rolling in gold, but my darling husband is out somewhere, working as hard as he can to support his family."  
  
Goten patted Videl gently on the back, "They aren't that bad, Vi, and besides, going to the ball might give Pan something to do, instead of her moping around the house all day."  
  
Videl nodded slowly, "Maybe I should convince her to go, but I doubt that I can without any outside help-"  
  
Suddenly the door burst open, a blonde by the name of Marron came dashing into the kitchen and up the stairs.  
  
When Goten saw the envelope that Marron was holding, he grinned, "Well, Videl, there goes your outside help."  
  
Videl laughed softly, "That girl is like a guardian angel, I'm so glad she's Pan's best friend."  
  
"Pan! Pan!" Marron shrieked, "We are sooo lucky!"  
  
Pan glanced up at her friend, "Hey, Marron, you sure seem happy, why are-"  
  
"Because of this!" Marron waved the envelope that was gripped tightly in her hand, "We've been invited to the ball! Well, every single maiden in the whole kingdom has, but we'll get to meet the prince!"  
  
Pan sighed and made a face, "Well, whoop-dee-do, great, we're going to meet the prince, I couldn't be happier."  
  
Marron raised an eyebrow, "Is that sarcasm that I hear?"  
  
Pan rolled her eyes, "No Marron, it's my parakeet fluttering around the room."  
  
"But you don't have a parakeet."  
  
"My point, exactly."  
  
Marron shrugged and continued screeching, "Oh Pan! This will be so great! We'll pick out dresses together, do our hair!!! I can hardly wait! Maybe the prince will think that we're like goddesses come down from the heavens and would want to marry us, anything is possible."  
  
Pan blinked twice, "Marry? Him? Hah! In his dreams!"  
  
Marron scrunched her nose, "You're being weird, but are you going to go?"  
  
Pan started to yell, "Of course not! I will not go to some stupid ball for some stupid prince just so he can think that I'm attractive and would want to marry me!!"  
  
She stopped for a sec, went over her words, and smiled, "Actually, you convinced me, Marron, of course I'll go."  
  
~*~  
  
*sigh* Why do all of my stories involve Pan getting revenge with Trunks? *shrugs* Oh well, sorry 'bout the long wait, I had writer's block and was also busy working on my new story, 'Guiding Light'  
  
Go check it out if you haven't read it already. And remember . review!!!  
  
-Juunanagou4ever 


	14. Bra's Prince Charming

~*~  
  
Preparing for a dance was harder than Pan thought, she had so much to do, a new dress, new shoes, she needed to get her hair done. But the good thing was that her family was not lagging so much behind in their debts, thanks to Gohan, they were actually paying off most of it and were no longer in financial difficulty.  
  
Well, not really anyway, although they were not extremely wealthy, they weren't poor either, they were middle class, and slowly moving up. After all, they had a beautiful home, which was more than a lot of people had.  
  
Yet, Videl still blamed the royals for taking her Gohan away from her. Since he had a new job, he could not come back to visit them until he was very stable. And Gohan? He absolutely loathed the royals, for forcing him to be away from his beloved daughter, wife and brother.  
  
Since the ball requested all virgin girls of the entire kingdom under twenty-five years of age to be there. Pan guessed that Emit would be there also. She certainly hoped so, although Marron was a great friend to her. There was something that lacked between the two that made each other best friends, Pan and Marron had known each other for their entire lifetime, yet not once did Pan consider Marron to be her best friend. Neither was Emit. But Pan believed that she'd find someone.  
  
But first of all, she needed to decide what to wear. In fact, she and Marron were going to the village in hopes of finding something.  
  
"Hurry up!" Marron whined, "I really want a good gown!"  
  
Pan slipped on her other shoe, "The ball isn't for another few days!"  
  
"But I want to look my best!" Marron beamed, "Who knows? Maybe the prince would pick me!"  
  
Pan rolled her eyes, "Fat chance of that happening."  
  
"What do you mean?" Marron asked, "I'm not good enough for him?"  
  
"He's not good enough for you, after all, that's what princes were like, annoying, vain, self-centered, and incredibly arrogant."  
  
Marron twirled a strand of blonde hair with her pinky, "True, but it would be so neat to meet him! I might even get to talk to him!"  
  
"Oh, what fun." Pan muttered.  
  
Unaware of her friend's sarcasm, Marron skipped out of the house, "C'mon! Let's go!"  
  
~*~  
  
"How about this one?" Marron held out a bright red dress, "It lacks something, though."  
  
"The lower bottom half?" Suggested Pan.  
  
Marron laughed, "Oh, don't be naïve, Pan, it's the style now, no one wears those long, plain old dresses."  
  
"Sure." Pan yawned, they've been shopping for an entire hour now. What a waste of time! She hadn't found one decent dress that was 'complete', and was giving up hope.  
  
"Hey, how about this one?" Marron held the dress in front of herself, "I like it! It's so different!"  
  
"Sure, black lacy velvet is very different." Pan sighed, "Marron? What are you thinking?"  
  
"I don't know." Marron ignored her, "I don't think I can find a pair of matching shoes, oh well."  
  
Pan wandered into the back of the store, looking for an out-of-date dress, something longer than knee length. Unfortunately, there was none.  
  
The chubby shopkeeper waddled over to her, "Miss, may I help you with something?"  
  
"Yes." Pan thought for a moment, "Do you have any old dresses?"  
  
"Old?" The shopkeeper raised a thick eyebrow, "What do you mean, miss?"  
  
"No." Pan bit her bottom lip, "Well, do you have anything that's not quite so . . . revealing?"  
  
The shopkeeper nodded, "Ah, a shy one, aren't you? Of course, come with me."  
  
Pan followed the shopkeeper into the backroom and he pointed to a dusty rack, "These are some of the more out of date clothes, they aren't selling too good, but I'll give you bargain if you decide to buy one."  
  
"Thanks." Pan began to flip through the clothes, they certainly were less revealing, but all of them were very plain, hardly something one would wear to a ball. But then, one certain dress caught her eye. As she held it closer to the dim light, she knew that it was absolutely perfect for her.  
  
She beamed at the shopkeeper, "You wouldn't have matching shoes for this dress, would you?"  
  
"I'll see what I can find, miss."  
  
Finally, after another exhausting half-hour of shopping, both Pan and Marron have gotten all their stuff, they headed for home.  
  
"Oooo! I cannot wait until the ball! I love my new dress!" Squealed Marron.  
  
"It certainly is very . . . pink." Pan shielded her eyes from the neon pink dress.  
  
"I know, isn't it fabulous?" Marron sighed, "Wouldn't it be nice if we both got accepted into the palace? Then maybe we'd be sisters or something?"  
  
Pan laughed, "Sure, that'd be nice. You and your pink dress, let's hope it doesn't blind the king."  
  
"You're just jealous!" Marron pouted, "You didn't find a good enough dress since you were too picky, and look at your dress, it's so incredibly old fashioned!"  
  
Pan shrugged, "I like it, especially because it's not a bright colour!"  
  
"Well, my dress is very noticeable, there's no way that the prince won't pay attention to me!" Marron countered.  
  
"Whatever, do you want to come over tonight? We can watch a few movies." Pan suggested.  
  
"And get ready for the ball?" Suggested Marron  
  
"Er . . . sure."  
  
"Count me in, then!"  
  
~*~  
  
"So? You must be excited!"  
  
Trunks laughed, "Excited? You must be kidding, would you be excited if you had to get married within the next few days?"  
  
"Of course!" Bra beamed, "After all, Trunks, you get your pick of the whole country!"  
  
Trunks sighed, "I don't know, everything's been happening in a flash, I don't think I'm ready for marriage."  
  
"Oh, Trunks." Bra frowned, "You're going to turn 30 soon, 3-0! Do you know what that means? It means that you're going to be an old geezer! So you better find a suitable bride quick!"  
  
Trunks turned around to face his 17-year old sister, "What kind of person would you like to marry?"  
  
Bra thought for a bit before answering, "Someone that cares about me very deeply, has a good sense of humour, is strong but gentle, and can be himself all the time without trying to act big."  
  
"That's it?"  
  
"Oh, he has to be very, very handsome also."  
  
Trunks laughed, "Thought as much."  
  
"Oh, Trunks, the ball's already started! You have to get ready now!" Bra whined, "I bet most of the guests have already arrived!"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, you go first, I think I'll be out in a second." Trunks muttered.  
  
"Suit yourself." The princess skipped down the stairs and gasped, there were so many people! The grand hall was completely filled! Trunks would definitely be able to find a suitable bride tonight! She glanced down from the balcony, her brother was going to get a lot of attention tonight. Oh well, it was too bad that she didn't have a boyfriend. Her father was way too strict.  
  
As she saw the door open again, she saw a shimmering blur of bright pink, and as she shielded her eyes, in the process of doing so, she slipped from the smooth marble and started to fall to the floor below. The guests all gasped in horror as they watched the princess helplessly fall.  
  
Bra closed her eyes and cursed herself, oh why hasn't she bothered to learn to fly? It would sure come in handy right now! Why didn't she bother to learn some martial arts like her dad and brother insisted in doing, she wouldn't be dead now! Wait! She wasn't dead, as far as she knew, she was still alive.  
  
Bra opened one eye, and then the other one, "Y-you saved me!"  
  
"Actually, you landed on me, but your way works too." The boy beneath her grinned.  
  
"Who are you? Are you a royal? I haven't seen you before, only girls are allowed today." Bra asked.  
  
"I'm Goten, I'm not a royal, I'm also the caterer today, the king gave me special permission to be here tonight and supervise all the chefs and I hope that answered all of your questions."  
  
"Um . . . sure . . ." Bra blinked twice, this was too perfect, an extremely gorgeous boy rescuing her! Like Prince Charming! "Thanks for rescuing me!"  
  
"No problem, who are you?" Goten asked.  
  
"I'm Bra, well, princess Bra." Bra replied.  
  
"Oh, you're the princess! I knew I saw you from somewhere before." Goten nodded, "I wouldn't have forgot such a lovely face like yours."  
  
Bra blushed a beautiful shade of scarlet, "Um . . . gotten . . ."  
  
"Goten."  
  
"Oh, right, Goten, would you like to be . . . my date? For tonight?" Bra blushed even harder.  
  
"Sure, I would be honoured, princess Bra." Goten grinned.  
  
"Really? Thank you so much!" Bra beamed, not only did she escape death, she also had an incredibly handsome boy for a date!  
  
"There's just one problem, though."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You'll have to get off me first."  
  
~*~  
  
Great, where'd she go? His sister disappeared on him when he needed her most, surely she did not expect him to go out and face all of those girls alone, did she?  
  
Trunks sighed, he took his eyes off her for one second, and she's gone, probably ran off with some boy. He said to no one in particular, "Like that would ever happen, she's always too picky."  
  
And instead of entering the grand hall through the second floor and making a grand entrance, he decided to go through the side door, he didn't want too much attention directed at him.  
  
As he pushed open the metal door, he was overwhelmed by the number of females that were in the room! And they were all so beautiful! He rubbed his eyes, surely his father did not expect him to choose one out of the thousands here.  
  
But he frowned in disgust as he examined what each girl was wearing, what ever happened to the good old-fashioned dresses that weren't so revealing? This might as well have been a swimsuit competition. There were mini-skirts everywhere, and spaghetti seemed to be the style this year.  
  
They were no more than royal concubines, he thought, as he wandered around the room, careful not to attract too much attention. And what was he supposed to do for the rest of the night? Talk to slutty girls hoping to marry him for his incredible fortune? If only he could find one sensible person to communicate with. And as he turned his head, a bright pink thing was shone right in his eyes, he yelped and quickly turned around, this was too much, he didn't think he could handle it.  
  
He started to head back upstairs, looking at the floor so no one could see his eyes and identify him as the prince, he kept his hood on carefully, hiding his purple hair. As he avoided most of the legs and feet that came in his way, he spotted fabric, and he stopped to examine the girl, who was talking with another girl.  
  
A pair of heelless black velvet slippers with a gold notch on the side adorned her small feet, immediately above the feet, was a beautiful black dress, tight yet not revealing at all, it showed her incredibly curved figure but nothing else. The dress itself was oriental styled, having a dragon intertwined between roses. The dress actually had sleeves, a not-so- scooped neckline. Trunks raised his head, surely a beautiful body would have a gorgeous head to go with it. And he nodded to himself as he examined her, yes, it was very gorgeous indeed, dark hair tied in a knot at the navel of her long, slender neck, and her face bore no makeup, which gave her a natural shine over the rest of the 'group'.  
  
He noticed that the corners of her lips were raised as she spoke, he thought to himself, I know this girl from somewhere, she has such a wonderful smile.  
  
And perhaps he had been standing there, gaping at her for too long, for she must've realized his presence, and as she turned around, she snapped, "Do you mind?"  
  
That voice, not high, but having a course tone to it, yet a friendly and amiable sound to his ears, he had been longing for these two weeks for someone to yell at him, to argue with him. Even his father had been surprising pleasant to him. Probably from his mother's influence.  
  
"Excuse me? I asked you a question, if you had any brains in that thick skull of yours, you'd have the decency to answer me, who are you? And do you mind not staring at me? It's unsettling and very disturbing! I'm trying to talk with a friend of mine, have you any manners?!"  
  
Trunks stumbled back from the girl's sudden outburst, his clock falling off his head, his cerulean eyes met the girl's onyx ones, and he stuttered.  
  
"P-Pan?"  
  
~*~  
  
That was one of the better cliffies, anyways, you probably all hate me now . . . ^-^  
  
I will have the next chappie out soon, and that's a promise!  
  
-Juunanagou4ver 


	15. Confessed Love

Things might've been rushed a bit in this chapter, but I figure that if I continue at the pace I'm going, I'll never finish this story!  
  
Forgive me, for I know not what I do.  
  
Yes, I know, Emit is really strange. I'll have a bit more about her in the next few chapters, and for all you who are wondering about Celeste? That's for me to know and for you to find out! ^^  
  
I can't write fluff, I just can't, forgive me . . . I am horrible at it . . . please don't mind it too much . . .  
  
~*~  
  
Emit smiled gently, "I suppose that you know him, Pan?"  
  
Pan muttered, "Yeah, I guess I do." What was she to do now? She didn't want him to see her, not now, she had planned on something, but it would not work with Emit instead of Marron, so he had caught her off guard. Now what was he going to say?  
  
Trunks blinked a few times, "Is that really you?"  
  
"No, it's the Easter bunny." Pan rolled her eyes, "Of course it's me, you idiot."  
  
"It really IS you!" Trunks cried out.  
  
And to Pan's total surprise, he ran up to her and gave her a giant bear hug. "I didn't recognize you! You look s-so different!!"  
  
"Different how?" Pan wanted to know.  
  
"Well, for one thing, er . . . you're in a dress, that's different, and as for another thing, you're almost pretty." He gasped at the death glare that Pan gave him and quickly added, "Not that you were ugly before, well, not that ugly, anyways."  
  
Pan narrowed her eyes and walked away from him, and Emit laughed her strange, hollow laugh, "Smooth move, you just blew it, I thought princes were supposed to be lean, mean, talking machines."  
  
"What did I do wrong?" Moaned Trunks.  
  
"What did I do wrong?" Emit mimicked the moaning prince, "Everything, first off, hugging her was very wrong, since that proved that you actually didn't respect her as a lady, and second off, telling her that she was ALMOST pretty probably just made turned her off like that." She snapped her fingers making Trunks jump in surprise, "Although you know that she is absolutely stunning you refuse to admit that you do have feelings for her in fear of her dumping you as viciously as you dumped her."  
  
"I-I-I don't know what you're talking about." Stammered Trunks, "You're lying."  
  
"No, I'm not." Emit smirked, "You know as well as I do that you can't deny your feelings for Pan, but when she told her that she loved you, you immediate reaction was no, no because you did not want to be hurt like the time when you were with Cel . . . er . . . Celeste, even though you didn't even consider your feelings."  
  
"Y-You're crazy." Trunks inched back, "It's not l-like that, honest. And how do you know about Celeste?"  
  
Emit sighed, "Denial doesn't help, you know, you should be wise to make a move before she gets over you."  
  
"I don't l-like her, honest, I don't." Trunks whimpered, "And P-Pan's strong, she would've laughed it off when I told her that I didn't feel the same-"  
  
"Are you strong?" Emit questioned.  
  
"I guess so, I am the prince of this country, you know." Trunks muttered.  
  
"When Celeste dumped you for him, did you laugh it off?" Emit demanded.  
  
"No, but this was different . . ." Trunks' voice was barely audible.  
  
"Oh? How so? As far as I can see, love is love. There's no other way to describe it." Emit snorted.  
  
"I-"  
  
"All I'm saying is that you'd be wise to tell her about your feelings before she starts to hate you even more." Emit smiled, "But if you are like what you claim, and if you do have no feeling towards her, then you wouldn't care if she hated you or not, right?"  
  
"What do you suppose I do, then, if you claim to know everything."  
  
The auburn haired girl laughed, "Hey, I'm not the one that adores Pan, you are. Therefore, it's up to you to get something done." She waved and disappeared into the crowd.  
  
Trunks backed into a wall and sat down, what was he to do now? Could he possibly do what Emit told him? Was what she said all true? Did he really have feelings for Pan?  
  
~*~  
  
"Hey, Panny." Goten waved, flashing his usual grin.  
  
"Hi." Pan said without looking up, she walked straight to the buffet table and grabbed a cup of wine.  
  
"Who's that?" Bra asked, tugging on Goten's arm.  
  
"Oh, she's my niece." Goten replied, "Hey, Panny, I don't think you should drink, you might get drunk."  
  
"Hah, me? Get drunk? As if!" Pan laughed and finished the glassful in one gulp, while grabbing another glass with her other hand.  
  
Bra smiled, "You're related to Goten? I could tell by the eyes."  
  
"You're related to Trunks?" Pan gulped her second cup, "I could tell by the hair. Very strange colour indeed."  
  
"Er . . . Panny, that's not beer, you know."  
  
Pan stared at her third cup while dumping it down her throat, "What is it then?"  
  
"It's- PAN! You're not supposed to use those cups for drinking that!" Goten yelled.  
  
Pan raised an eyebrow and Bra explained, "Those cups are for punch, the other cups over there are for the Vodka." She pointed to a pile of cups 1/8 smaller than the large one that Pan was holding at the moment. "And even with those, you're supposed to sip it very slowly."  
  
Pan laughed, "It's just Vodka, it's not like I've never drank it before."  
  
Goten stammered, "But Panny, the stuff you drank contained 60 % water, this stuff is 100% alcohol. Since it was a royal occasion, the kind did not permit cheap wine to be served."  
  
Pan nodded, "Fascinating." And finished her sixth glass. As she tried to refill it for a seventh time, Goten wacked the glass out of her hand.  
  
"Pan! Stop! You don't drink, remember?! You're not old enough to drink!" He bellowed.  
  
Pan snapped at her uncle, "Why does everyone treat me like a child? Even my own uncle! I've had just about enough of all of you!"  
  
She turned and stomped off, careful not to fall incase her uncle laughed at her. As a matter of fact, she did feel a bit dizzy, and was seeing double, maybe she should go outside for the fresh air, yeah, that was a good idea.  
  
Trunks raised his head just to see Pan run outside. What would he do now? He stood up slowly, oh great, now he had to chase after her, what great fun.  
  
As he walked outside also, he saw, to his relief that Pan was not running. She was leaning against the wall, mumbling something to herself.  
  
"Hey, Pan." He said in the most amiable possible.  
  
Pan muttered, "What do you want?"  
  
"I-I, erm . . . I was bored, so I came outside." As soon as those words slipped out of his mouth, Trunks slapped himself on the head, he said the wrong thing again!  
  
"Hmmm . . ." Pan merely nodded, she slid down on to the ground and sat cross-legged.  
  
Trunks hesitated before sitting walking over to her, and sitting down beside her. Pan turned away and muttered, "Go away."  
  
"Pan, I-"  
  
"You what?" Pan turned around and glared at him, "Are you here to tell me how much you hate me? Or how ugly I am? Or how I'll never be good enough for you? Or how-"  
  
Trunks silenced her by placing his lips on top of hers, and as they stayed there like that, all time stood still, and the moonlight shone ever so brightly on the couple that was meant to be.  
  
Pan pulled away from him and looked at him in disgust, "Oh, so now I'm like a toy to you? One that you can do anything you want with? Well, I'm sorry, Prince, maybe the next that you're bored you can go and drown your stupid self in a lake? How about that?" She stood up and ran towards the night sky.  
  
"Thanks a lot, Emit." Trunks muttered, "I guess that was wrong too, will I ever do anything right?"  
  
"Actually, you might, if you chase after her now." Emit smiled down at the moping boy.  
  
"Really? Hey! Where'd you come from?" Trunks frowned, slightly confused of the girl's amazing ability to be everywhere at once.  
  
Emit shrugged, "That's for me to know, and anyways, why are you still dawdling here? Are you really that much of an idiot?"  
  
Trunks scowled, "All village girls are the same, always calling me an idiot." He shook his head and ran after Pan.  
  
~*~  
  
How could he?  
  
How could he?  
  
Pan repeated one more, spitting on to the ground, how could he?  
  
She had loved his smile, and lusted for his laugh, even when he had rejected her, she felt still a strand of admiration towards the older man.  
  
Yet, clearly she meant nothing to him.  
  
He was a prince.  
  
What chance did she ever have with him? What chance did she ever hoped she could have with him? The single week of being together, she thought she really known him, she thought they had something special.  
  
She now knew that those feelings were one-sided.  
  
Like he said . . . he was bored, and even though, when she saw him, sitting down beside her, she felt a slight hope tugging at her heart. Yet, he treated her with such . . . such . . .  
  
She shook her head, letting tears fall freely to the ground . . . how could she have been so stupid? Her life wasn't some fairy tale where the prince comes and rides away with the girl into the sunset. She wasn't Snow White, and Trunks definitely wasn't Prince Charming.  
  
Pan stopped, out of breath because of the alcohol in her body, her head was burning up, and she felt a sharp pain in her chest. But she refused to let the alcohol get the better of her, she slid down onto the ground, sighing deeply.  
  
What happened? She had come here to the castle with confidence, with courage, with determination, but all her preparations had melted when she saw him . . . why?  
  
Just as she placed a hand on her forehead, she spotted a figure, running towards her.  
  
Pan scrambled behind an elm tree and stayed there, not moving, not even daring to breathe.  
  
"Pan?" He called, "Pan! Where are you?"  
  
"Like you care . . ." Pan muttered, struggling to stay awake.  
  
"Did you just say something?" Trunks yelled again, "Pan?"  
  
Pan wished she had just kept her big mouth shut when she saw him stepping in front of her, "What do you want?"  
  
"To talk to you." He said, out of breath from the running.  
  
"Well, I've got nothing to say." Pan turned her head, not wanting to look at the prince standing in front of her.  
  
"You don't have to say anything, all you have to do is listen." Trunks sighed, "I-I didn't mean what I said the other day . . . and tonight, also, I've got this knack for not saying the right things, maybe it's because I'm nervous when I'm talking to you, and I blurt out the first thing that comes into mind."  
  
Pan closed her eyes, half-listening to what he was saying, the other half, trying to block him out.  
  
"W-Well . . . when you told me the other day . . .that you . . .l-loved me, I thought that you were possibly kidding or something, or making fun of me as usual . . . s-so I said what I said." Trunks looked down at the ground beneath his feet, "But, the t-truth is . . . I-I l-lov-lo- care about you too."  
  
Pan did not open her eyes, would he admit to her that he loved her? If he did, then she would, by lord, forgive him.  
  
"Pan, please." Trunks pleaded, "I'm sorry for what happened, I-I"  
  
"You're a prince." Pan said slowly, "I'm a peasant, period."  
  
"But, I-I"  
  
"You're so used to getting everything and anything you want." Pan spat bitterly, "It's all just a game to you, after all, what would you possibly want with me? You've got your choice of girls waiting to wed you." She raised a trembling hand and pointed to the castle, "You should be there, not here."  
  
"Pan, I really think that you should reconsider, I"  
  
"Like I said." Pan laughed in a tone that frightened the violet-haired prince, "We live in different worlds, I am me, and you're like a god, go and talk with some goddess of yours, alright? And leave me alone."  
  
"If you'd only listen to me, I'd-"  
  
"You'd what? Really, we were once friends, and I thought, only thought that maybe we could've something more, but I'm wrong, and you're wrong, and I want you to get out of my sight." Pan said coldly.  
  
"Pan, listen, I-"  
  
"You're a prince, you're different than myself, you cannot possibly understand what I'm going through." Pan laughed that strange, cold laugh again.  
  
"I may not understand what you are saying, or feeling, for that matter." Trunks stared straight at her, "But why can't you understand me?"  
  
"Because you're a prince, you're different, no one can understand you, you're always a level above everyone else." Pan said without any void of emotion.  
  
"I may be a prince, but aren't I also just a boy . . . asking a girl . . . for her to love him?" Trunks said softly.  
  
Pan looked up, and as if for the first time, gazed into those deep, enchanting, cobalt blue eyes of his.  
  
~*~  
  
Ugh . . . what did I say again? I can't write fluff . . .  
  
Remember to review! 'Cause I love your comments!  
  
-Juunanagou4ever 


	16. Just Friends?

                                                                        **The Apple Tree**

_Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing …_

**            You will probably be glad to know that The Apple Tree will NOT be revised … since this was my first fanfic that was posted on fanfiction.net, I'd like to keep it the way it is … you know … kinda like a souvenir … (this was, however, not my first fic, my first fic was called '**_When Worlds Intertwine'_** and it was of Juunanagou/Bra … I know, I know … it's sin that my first fic wasn't a T/P, I'd like to say so that it was, but you wouldn't want me to lie, would you? ^~**

**             Guiding Light, The Silver Sea, and this one are my major concerns right now, the others I will probably not continue till this is finished and GL & TSS are well under way … sorry 'bout the inconvenience **

**             I just realized something, the ages of this story and The Silver Sea are identical, yet Trunks and Pan are completely different within the two stories … strange … and think 'bout Trunks the gang leader … Trunks the prince seems so …innocent … heh … yeah … **

**             (Oh god … enter the fluff … *slaps forehead* NO! NOT THE FLUFF! ANYTHING BUT THE FLUFF! ARGH! It'll sure be a relief getting this chappie over with … *groan* and thus … the author has finally realized the downside to writing a romance story … some fluff are just unavoidable) **

**             Okay, enjoy this long-awaited chappie of mine! ^^   **

**                                                                         _Chapter 15: Just friends?_**

****

****

            Silence isn't deadly … just mildly awkward … but then again, awkward was a mere understatement to describe what Pan was feeling right now … aside from her head spinning 'round and 'round from drinking far too much and being informed that a prince loved her, she felt very dizzy. 

            Pan lowered her head, she wished that he would just go away … what did he expect her to do? Ran within the warmth of his open arms crying out that she loved him so he could spend the rest of his life with her, and the tale would have a fairytale-like ending?

            Well, actually, that wasn't such a bad idea, but no way was she going to actually do that, but she had to say something … something to ease the silence, to soften the awkwardness … yet she couldn't say anything … she couldn't laugh like usual and make a wise crack … this just wasn't the occasion to do that … yet, she was afraid to look at him, to look into those pleading eyes of his, to … love him …

            So instead, she managed to croak out in what she considered a passable tone, "What do you expect me to say?"

            He looked a bit taken back by her words, but soon regained that prince-like posture and spoke without any void of emotion, "I don't expect you to say anything."

            When she didn't reply for quite a while longer, he muttered, "Say whatever you want … I don't care."

            That tone of voice Pan recognized, the same annoying voice that he used to have, the tone that stated _Why should a noble prince like me speak with a lowly peasant like you? _And it was that tone of voice that Pan could not tolerate, but it was also that tone of voice that she could reply to.

            What could she say? She couldn't say anything, certainly not what she felt … he'd only laugh at that, that's right … it had to be a joke, what with the bad sense of humour that he had and all, he was probably trying to make a fool of her … 

            "Still bored, Prince? You should be inside with all those hundreds of mad women hoping for a chance to marry you, to obsess over you, to worship you, why wait here with me? And besides, it's not like I'm the easiest person in the world to talk too, go and party with Marron and them, or are you pitying me? The little village girl whom you rejected a lifetime ago, well, _prince_." Pan spat, "I don't need your pity, go and save it for some other brainless girl."

            "Pan, look, why must you be always so hard with everything, I-" Trunks opened his mouth to argue, then a little strange voice popped up at the back of his head, not the usual nagging one whose tone resembled his own, not the one that kept telling him to play it safe, and then he wouldn't get hurt, but one that resembled the voice of a female … or rather … one of a certain Time-obsessed girl that had frightened him to no ends … _You realize that you were probably better off pushing her off a cliff than trying to argue with her … you really are an imbecile, you don't have all day, you know, time flies, and you certainly don't have much time left …so don't screw this one last chance … say whatever you think would sound better than some lame pickup line … time is running out …_Yup, Trunks gritted his teeth, somehow, this was Emit talking to him, who ever would mention so much about running out of time? But in a way, the strange girl was right … he closed his eyes and blurted the first thing on his mind, "I-I love you, Pan …"

            Oh god, he had officially made a fool of himself … Trunks wanted to kill himself … but there was no need to, this silence was already accomplishing the killing …

            "You sure didn't say that a month ago …" Muttered Pan.

            "Seventeen days, you mean," Trunks closed his eyes, he was now about to make an even bigger fool of himself, after this, he was going to kill Emit … which he probably can't, since the girl creeped the living daylights out of him, "I'm sorry, it was an impulse … what I said … I was … I was an idiot … I didn't consider my own feelings … I was afraid … afraid of making some sort of commitment … again … or rather … I was a coward …"

            "So you're asking me to forgive you …" Pan tried hard not to laugh, poor prince, it was certainly hard for him, he did look quite pathetic right now … well, a very handsome sort of pathetic-ness, but pathetic all the same.

            "No, I'm not," Trunks stopped for a second, "I'm asking for your understanding … and …" He swallowed hard, "I'm asking you for … for …" _Oh, yes, you are a brainless idiot, aren't you, prince? You do realize that the sister of yours, who is not nearly as brainless as you, might notice that you're gone? _Came the annoying yet strangely true voice, _so, you are a coward aren't you? I pity you … poor prince … afraid of committing his love to a girl …_ "Stupid Emit …" Trunks muttered, he'd already made a fool out of himself, best to keep that reputation, "Pan, what else need I say?" He sighed, taking another deep breath, _idiot, 'tis now or never, _ "All I ask from you … for you to give me a chance … and hopefully … if possibly … you could …" He didn't need to finish … she wasn't dumb, and should've gotten the hint by now …

            "But … you … me … we … this can't work out." Pan seemed more interested in fidgeting with the grass beneath her than to look into the eyes of the man whom she loved so much, but was afraid to love, "You're a prince, I'm a peasant, our pasts have never met, and neither will our future …"

            "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Quoted Trunks, this time, with a faint smile.

            Pan smiled also, and she actually looked up, "Wow, I'm impressed, that was one of the few intelligent things that you've said all day."

            "Give me a break," Trunks growled, "I say a lot of intelligent things."

            "Oh, yeah? Like what, boxer boy?" Pan laughed as she quoted Trunks, "I was an idiot … blah blah blah … I was a coward …"

            The prince felt his cheeks reddening, "Well, at least I'm not some dazed drunken girl!"

            "Too bad … you would've been more likable that way …" Pan felt her forehead burn up, but shrugged it off, "You know, to think about it, I am quite sleepy."

            "Am I forgiven?" Trunks asked.

            Pan turned around and pouted, "I don't know, you were quite harsh with that kiss, you know."

            "Me dearest apologies." Sighed Trunks as he walked closer to the girl, "Is there anyway that I could make you feel better?"

            Pan turned around and asked, "I don't know … my forehead's burning up … I think I'm drunk … tell me, am I drunk?"

            Trunks raised an eyebrow, "You weren't drunk a minute ago, it's getting colder out here though, do you want to go inside?"

            "Cold?" Pan laughed, "What do you mean, cold? It's boiling hot in here!"

            "It is?" Imprinted on the prince's face was a look of confusion.

            "Yeah … it is …" Pan felt her eyelids growing heavy. _That's it … I'm drunk … heh … I'll probably wake up and find that this was all a dream or something …and he doesn't really love me …I'll be alone once I wake up … back in my own bed … knowing that it was all just a dream … oh, heck, better make the dream count. _On the last brink of consciousness, Pan stumbled towards a startled prince, having no idea what she was doing, but she didn't care, since she managed to press her lips upon those of the man whom she loved and hated so much.

            He didn't seem to mind.

            Her last thought before she fell into a world of drunken sleep was …

            _Strange, his lips sure feel real …_

                                                                        ~*~

              **Hell, that sucked, tell me that sucked, NO! I CHANGED MY MIND! DON'T TELL ME! whimpers and hides under pillow**

**              ^^;; I'm sorry … like I said, I'm not a fluff writer … and well … I'm happy to say that the next chapter of The Apple Tree is back to normal! No more fluff! Yay! Yay!**

**               *sniff* The pits of writing romance … there's gotta be a romantic part at some point … darn …**

**               Leave the de-fluffed author a little comment, won't ya? ^~**

_-Juunanagou4ever_


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